


sweep him off his feet

by hcneylesbian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: -Ish, Angst, Coming Out, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, Swearing, Violence, also i know it's kinda funny that the title isn't capitalized but it was annoying me, i know it's not some cool au but i wanted to try to write in character first!, ive already done a little bit of editing, klance, klangst, not completely but you'll see, post-season 3, which...i hope it's pretty in character??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-24 10:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12010848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hcneylesbian/pseuds/hcneylesbian
Summary: “I win.” Lance’s rapid breath hit his face, and that’s when Keith realized how close he was. He was close enough to see small freckles dotting across Lance’s cheeks, and to see his eyes taking him in. After a moment, he was just surprised Lance hadn’t pushed him away. “What were you down here for in the first place?”Lance’s face was red—Keith presumed he was flushed from the workout. “Hunk made lunch, I thought you might be hungry. Plus, I hadn’t really seen you all day.”And Keith was pissed that something in that sentence made his face fall of all cockiness, replaced with surprise. “Oh,” he said simply. Lance’s breath was finally evening out, but he still hadn’t shoved Keith off his waist.--In which Keith and Lance keep having bonding moments until it's almost too late.--PS i started writing this like last year i think and so it may not be my best work but i thank you all so much for continuing to read and support!!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey! so this is my first work for voltron. i definitely want to write more. here we have another story that we can only wish was canon lol. hope you enjoy!

Keith was a shit leader.

This was made obvious by the time he had nearly gotten them killed by Lotor, but it was even more prominent as time went on. Sure, he had his few redeeming moments, but overall he wasn't confident and was too haughty. He was hoping that since Shiro was back, his bond with the Black Lion would kick back in and he could take over, but that hadn't exactly happened. And Keith was a little worried, but he was sure that Shiro was more hurt by it than he could have ever been.

At any rate, Keith was glad that Shiro was back.

Keith sat with Shiro and Lance, who he had been working with for many hours, coming up with strategies for attacks. He was growing more and more frustrated due to a change of topic, which was exactly what he had been thinking about--his leadership abilities. The group of three had come up with multiple war plans that they were waiting to discuss with the group, so, they were now focused on Keith and leadership. And Keith _hated_ focusing on himself. But he hated even more focusing on his flaws—especially with Lance in the room.

Shiro was doing his best to remain composed and lead the conversation despite the arguing that was going on. “Keith, you had the red lion originally because you relied more on instinct than battle intelligence- “

“Cause he’s a hothead,” Lance broke in, his laugh breaking some of the tension in the room. Keith glared at him, meeting his eyes with an angry heat. Shiro gave Lance an almost fatherly look that made him surrender into a slumped position on the table.

“You just need to think more like a leader now.” Shiro was taking notes of all that they talked about, and had gotten out a new sheet for Keith. Keith notes. Enthralling.

Keith practically growled, “But that’s the thing! I’m not you, Shiro, you know what you’re doing. I’ve made too many mistakes as the leader. Ones that put us in danger.”

“You're fine at giving pep talks,” Lance droned, looking a little solemn, probably from being told to stop. That wasn’t his thing. Stopping, that is. “You know, you've done it a few times. Just like, think like you're thinking when you hype us up. Always.”

“That's in a relaxed setting! In the heat of battle--well, you’ve seen.” Keith crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair like the angry teenager he was.

Lance snorted.

Shiro didn’t miss a beat before saying, “There will be more opportunities for you to take on harder responsibilities. I’ll be here for help if you’re struggling, and eventually you’ll be able to do it on your own.”

“Okay guys! How about this,” Lance said, finally perking back up into a sitting position. “You guys keep going. Great work, we're making awesome progress,” he continued (definitely sucking up). “But you guys talk through this and I’m going to go get some rest. You woke me up really early, and your boy here didn’t get much time to even think for himself. And I don't really need to think for Keith.”

Shiro sighed, and for a moment Keith thought that he would stop Lance. He kind of wanted him to. Even though his jokes were annoying as ever, and the distraction wasn’t good for the mission, he wanted him to stay. “Go ahead, Lance. Keith and I can have a one-on-one for now, and we’ll get back together later.”

Lance snuck a quick, smug look in Keith’s direction. “Enjoy.” Well, so much for that.

Keith rolled his eyes and looked back to Shiro, opening his mouth to speak before he heard Coran shout, “What are you _doing_? You’re supposed to be- “

“Shiro _said_ that I could take a break. He and Keith need to have a conversation, because I was suggesting too many good ideas and they felt bad.”

They heard Coran groan as Lance’s footsteps sounded out further and further away.

About an hour later, when Keith was drained of the energy he had for that conversation, Shiro stopped talking about it.

“Alright, I want to talk to Coran and Allura about that thing they said about Lotor earlier. Go rest a little, Keith.” He gave a reassuring look. “You _are_ doing better.”

“Are you sure?” Keith asked. He did really want to go walk around and think about something else for as long as he was allowed, but like everyone else, he didn’t want to rest while Lotor was planning on demolishing them. “Because we should- “

“Go,” Shiro said in a gentler voice. He squeezed the top of Keith's arm. “We’ve discussed everything imaginable without more information. You’re not off the hook, I just need to get more for us to work with.” He patted Keith’s shoulder, which finally prompted him to leave the room.

Well, Keith was frustrated. He was angry that he couldn’t just have Shiro’s senses implanted in his brain, though that was probably the most ridiculous idea he had ever had. But he was mad because he knew that it would take a long time for him to retrain his brain to think more clearly during battle. To think more clearly, _and_ to be able to relay what he needed to to his partners. To think for more than a second before doing, just because it felt right. Turns out that didn’t work for a team.

He didn’t want Shiro to see any of that, though. He let it slip occasionally, but he wanted Shiro more than any of it to know that he was relieved that he was back. Keith had been terrified that he’d lost his brother. And though he was frustrated that he had to step up and be leader, he knew it wasn’t in Shiro’s control. And that Shiro wanted Keith in that position if not himself.

So, he tried to be more grateful. More hopeful.

But he wasn’t always, and he missed Red. He missed their bond. And he could only hope Lance was treating her right.

Keith usually opted to go to the training deck when he had this feeling. Fighting out the bad feelings with his bayard in hand helped release some of his energy. Instead, though, thoughts of the Red Lion brought him to Lance's door. And sometimes, _occasionally_ ,he was good for Keith to talk to when he was anxious.

He only took a second after knocking to punch in Lance's room key. And there was Lance, laying down flat on his bed. His eyes were covered with some sort of eye mask, and his ears with what seemed to be large headphones. Lance was humming to some gentle tune, which sounded unusual to Keith, in a nice way. Rarely did he hear Lance do something relaxing that was for his own pleasure.

“Lance?” He said loudly, trying to make his voice louder than headphones. When he didn’t respond, Keith scowled, and crossed the room to smack Lance’s ankle.

Lance jumped before Keith could get his name out again, sliding the eye mask off his eyes. “Huh? Dude! What are you doing in here?”

“I want to talk,” Keith said, looking down from Lance’s face for a minute. He’d changed into something more relaxed, hanging off his collarbone. Keith fumbled over a word for a moment and blinked away, cursing what was clearly a side effect of his anger. When Lance squinted at him, confused, he rolled his eyes and pointed at his own ears and tried to make a hand signal for headphones, picking them off Lance's ears when he didn’t follow.

“Oh, sorry,” Lance mumbled, laughing a little. “Wait a minute, I shouldn’t be sorry—it’s _your_ fault! I was startled by you rudely entering my room without my permission, and then I—“

“Sorry! But you wouldn’t have heard me anyways-- “

“I could have been naked, Keith, which would have been a privilege for you, but I don’t think you want to deal with that.”

Keith's face heated at his words, oddly, but he rolled his eyes. “Okay, you know what? This isn’t worth it, you don’t listen to anyone but yourself.”

“Oh, no, no, you already ruined my peace. Might as well keep it up,” Lance said, mildly irritated, basically insinuating he could stay.

Keith could feel his eyes on his back, as he’d started to walk away, but he turned back around. “Okay.” He sat down on the edge of Lance’s bed, nervous thoughts coursing through his mind as he opened his mouth to speak again.

“I don’t know how to do this,” Keith admitted quietly, more seriously. “I’ve tried giving advice, and taking some on how to be better, but I’m not--I don’t know, I’m not catching on.”

Lance furrowed his brow and sat up a little bit to look at Keith better. “Keith, you’ve screwed up a lot in action, yeah, but I'm serious about your little speeches. You actually sound, I don't know, _responsible_ , when you're giving them.”

Surprised by Lance’s maturity, Keith pulled back a little. He thought for a tick before saying, “Well yeah, that’s the problem. If I can think for a few minutes then I can help the whole team. In action, I’m only helping myself.”

Lance shook his head. “No, that’s not true.” Keith raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been with the team all along. If you were only there for yourself, we’d be gone. I’d be dead. You do suck a lot of the time, yes, but I’m still here.”

For a moment Keith didn’t know how to respond. Mostly because Lance was hardly ever serious; he was still getting used to that side of him.

“Right,” he finally nodded. “Obviously we’re fighting for a greater good, and we’re all working together. But that worked best when Shiro was leader. When I had to lead we fell apart.”

Lance licked his lips and squinted off into the distance, looking concentrated--for once in his life, Keith might add. His tongue poked out of his mouth as he thought. “Well,” he patted his thighs and took a moment before he kept talking, “you’re still not alone in this Keith. It feels lonely for all of us sometimes, but in combat? We’re all together. We obviously have good chemistry, and even if at present you’re terrible under pressure, Shiro probably was when he was beginning too. You’re much younger, Keith. He had time to grow into that position. You were thrown into it, so like, go a little easy on yourself.”

Keith felt a small weight lift off his shoulders. Lance had made him feel better, rather than making fun of him (too much). Impressive.

“Thanks, Lance,” he muttered, not quite used to _those_ words coming out his mouth.

Lance smiled arrogantly at him. “Yeah, I might actually be a better pep talker than you, now that I think about it. So take notes." He quirked an eyebrow. "At least I won’t tell you to leave the math to Pidge, right about now in the conversation, leaving you useless.” He chuckled a little as Keith’s jaw dropped.

“Hey!” he said. “That was a moment of leadership, it totally made you feel better.” He frowned, hoping that the one moment he held onto as being a good one wasn't actually the Worst. “Right?”

“Well, I have a steady place on the team this way, correct?” Lance commented vaguely, though a smile was still present on his lips.

And Keith couldn’t tell if he was going to have to talk Lance through this again—though he was totally willing to, because he was supposed to be a leader or whatever—or if it was an attempt at a joke. An inside joke.

“Whatever,” Keith shrugged decidedly. “I mean, I thought you were the sharpshooter or something, but whatever you’re calling yourself now will work too.”

Then Lance smiled. It wasn’t really a smug smile, like Keith was used to, like one he would roll his eyes at. He just looked proud, or maybe simply pleased. “Well thanks, _Samurai_.”

Keith looked anywhere but Lance’s face--it was…distracting? He just nodded. “Sure thing.” He knew he was probably supposed to leave then, but something was pulling at him to stay. “Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“How’s Red doing?”

Lance groaned, leaning back on his hands. “I mean--good, you know? But it’s so hard to like, get used to the controls. It’s like she doesn’t want me to.”

“No,” Keith held back a laugh, “I’m just a better pilot than you.”

Lance frowned at him. “No! I was just fine with Blue. I could totally beat your quiznack with her.” He sighed. Keith wondered if Lance was using that word correctly again. “We have a connection, clearly, but I guess she probably misses you. Maybe she’s giving me hell for it, just like you do.”

Though Lance was joking, Keith felt his heart ache. Red had mattered to him, and he was sad to say goodbye, no matter how honored he was to fly the Black Lion. “Probably,” he decided to poke fun at him. “She learned something good from me.”

“Do you think she trusts me?” Lance asked him. Suddenly he scowled at Keith and pointed at him accusingly. “Did you tell her that I was your enemy or something?”

Keith froze. At first, Red probably picked up on his competitive nature against Lance. But there had been several moments where she would have had to have noticed that he relied on him, and that he didn’t actually hate his guts. “No, I mean, she’d have to trust you,” he said. “She chose you to replace me. And you’re my second in command, right?”

Lance was squinting at him, seemingly distrustful. Then finally he sighed. “Well, that’s good. She is hard to pilot though.”

Snapping back to his senses, Keith shrugged. “You’ll get used to it, she’s just fast. It’s actually helpful most of the time.”

Lance nodded. “I miss Blue, though,” he said, letting his head fall back, his Adam’s apple sticking out prominently. Keith found himself staring for a moment. “She just understood me, man. We had a good bond.”

Keith tore his eyes away from Lance as he looked back at him. “That took a while though,” he pointed out. He was a little defensive of Red, and he didn’t want anyone taking advantage of her. “You’ll bond with Red. Don’t you remember when we both crashed? We were trying to race a nose dive?”

“Which I won,” Lance said, looking up playfully at him.

Keith blinked, an astounded look coming over his face. “No, I definitely did. Red’s quicker!”

“Doesn’t mean you two had a better _bond_ then.”

“Whatever,” Keith snapped. “Anyways, just keep practicing. Maybe you should visit her. I know you miss Blue, but you need to take care of Red for me.”

“I know,” Lance said a little more seriously. “She’s in good hands, Keith, I’ll make sure she’s doing fine.”

With all the trust that he could muster, Keith agreed. “You better.” He stood up. “Well, good talk, but I should probably get back to Shiro.” He frowned. “And so should you, soon.”

“Hey, I will!” Lance said indignantly. “I just need a minute, you sort of interrupted a moment.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Thanks anyways.”

“Yeah, just, get out now please. And close the door on your way out.” Lance was leaning back on his bed, picking up the eye mask and the headphones. This made Keith scoff a little, but he chuckled a little as he walked away.

 

Because he practiced any time he wasn’t technically busy, Keith had moved up several levels in combat training. The workout was good to relieve stress, and he knew that he’d need to be at his peak fitness for any big battle.

The movement, the amount of focus he needed to summon, it all usually helped him to clear his mind. But now, Keith could only think about was why he was fighting. Why was he even training? As he moved his body swiftly to dodge hits and throw his own at the training bot, his mind raced to match.

Keith never had anyone but Shiro on earth for him. He had lost his family, wherever they were, far before the Garrison. There were never people that took up a place in his heart, so all he focused on was being a good pilot. A good student. And he did, he excelled.

But now he had the other Paladins. Shiro was back, thank god. There was Coran. And with the fast movements he made, he realized that that’s what he was fighting for.

It was the innocent people, the ones who were helpless. Their hope lied within Voltron. All they wanted was to live their lives in peace, with their families and friends. To survive, but they were already doing that. The Galra didn’t give them an option to do anything _but_ survive under their control. But that’s what they were there for, to fight so that these people could finally have control of their own lives, their own destinies.

It was Pidge. The youngest, and probably the smartest Paladin. She had saved their asses from being taken over by the Galra long ago, and she worked hard to prove her worth. With one look, an outsider might question why she was there. What she offered for the team. But Keith knew, she was a core part of it--that was why he was scared when she claimed to be running away. And underneath all of her strength and capability, she was still a kid, as they all were, and he wanted to protect that.

It was Hunk. He was lighthearted and caring, committed to his friends. Of course, he was probably the most terrified of everything they did, but even so, he would quickly take a beating for his friends. Sometimes it seemed like all he talked about was food, but that wasn’t all he was there for—though he _was_ an excellent cook. Hunk was special because he was intelligent, and he could be serious, but above everything, he was kind. His smile could warm a village. And in the middle of a war, you need someone that can fight, but can also make you smile.

It was Allura. In her life, she had lost so much. She had to go through her father dying and her planet being destroyed. This could have made her bitter towards everything, towards the universe—and that would be justifiable. But she chose to be kind, to accept those that needed help, and she was a badass fighter. No amount of apologizing would make Keith feel better about what he was biologically a part of, but they had talked it out. And he knew that Allura would always question him at the back of her mind, but that was okay. And he was glad that she was fighting with them now.

It was Coran. The guy was always trying to keep everything together, and he was messy. His shrill voice kept them on edge at times, but he was good at making them laugh. He could be clueless. But he was excellent at motivating the paladins to work together, even in the times where they had felt hopeless.

It was Shiro. His rock. The man he looked up to as a brother, for most things in life. Shiro was his world for longest time, as the only family he had, and when he was lost the first time, Keith did everything he could to find him. The second time, it nearly broke him. Because Shiro was gone once but they got him back, and he was convinced he would be around forever. When he had to replace him as a leader, he was more than discouraged, because there was no replacing Shiro. There was too much there to replace, even if he knew that’s what Shiro wanted. But he was back, and even if he couldn’t lead the team anymore, Keith wanted to make him truly proud. He wanted to use everything he’d been told, everything he’d been training for, to prove himself.

And surprisingly, it was Lance. Keith stumbled for a bit on that one, nearly falling out of line in his extensive battle with the bot. But he pushed through. Lance had been less of a dick lately. When he first saw the guy again, insisting that they were sworn enemies, Keith was confused. He’d never seen him as a threat, even if they had fought at the Garrison. But he did make himself into someone that Keith argued with all the time, because he was just so cocky. Past all of that, there was something softer deep down. The boy wasn’t shallow, he thought of everyone. His smile was bright and he wanted to show that he deserved a spot with everyone on the team. And Keith believed he did, he didn’t want Lance to leave. It was Lance that had kept him together when he tore the team apart, and it was Lance that had managed to give him good advice. And it was Lance that he was fighting for, with all the others.

Why was Lance sticking in his brain?

Keith stopped, panting for a few moments before he said, “Stop training.” He strode off the mat to grab some water and wiped his forehead, his hand slick with sweat.

Something felt wrong. Maybe not wrong, but weird. He used to be dismissive of Lance, he tried not to focus on the boy or his words. But then he came to _Keith_ that day when he was losing his trademark confidence. He decided that he wanted to talk to Keith for help. And since then Keith couldn’t just push him away as an afterthought.

And the more he thought about it, he never did.

Lance was his rival. For sure. But there was something in that that he didn’t want to lose. There was something in their banter that he didn’t have with anyone else on the ship. It wasn’t malicious, it just pushed him to be better than he thought he could be. _Lance_ drew that out of him. Once Keith started thinking of it that way, he realized that it had always been that way, and that Lance meant something to him. And Lance started confiding him, and Keith found that if he did the same, the boy listened. He opened up and accepted him. And Keith trusted him.

Keith threw his water bottle down and wiped his mouth, starting up the exercise again. He grunted, dodging and stabbing at the dummy, trying to clear his mind.

“Keith, what the heck?” came a voice. Lance’s. Keith called off the training again and swiveled to look at him in the doorway. His face was a bit red, and he took a step back. Keith brushed that off and grabbed his water, throwing a small hand towel around his neck.

“What?”

Lance blinked incredulously. “You kinda looked like you were about to kill someone—or maybe yourself. Are you, like, okay?”

Keith nodded. God, that overly considerate prick. “Y-yeah, I’m fine, it’s called training. You have put in _effort_.”

This made Lance stand up a little straighter and cross his arms. “Well, I do train! But you’ve been hogging the training room all day, or at least that’s what I heard. So, I went to the pool instead.”

“You do know that more than one person can use the room at a time?” Keith offered, a smirk on his face. “I mean, it’s big enough. Or you can practice with each other.”

“ _Yeah, I know that_ ,” Lance said in a mocking tone. Then he raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, was that a challenge?"

Keith barked out a laugh. “Yeah, ‘challenge’. It wouldn’t be very difficult to beat you.”

The boy across the room tapped his foot on the ground, considering him. “Alright, well I guess I could do some combat training. Not that I’ll need it, with my impeccable shooting skills.” He walked closer to Keith and looked him up and down. Keith could feel his face going red. "Although, Keith, I don't do this 24/7, so, I guess I don't have your--" he gestured to one of his arms.

Keith bit back a grin. "My what?" Lance gave him a dirty, pointed look, so he just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “ _Fine_. I’ll go easy on you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I pick up on things pretty easily."

Right.

Keith rolled his eyes at him and grabbed a pole, throwing one to Lance.

“No swords?”

“No, we’re not trying to kill each other.”

Lance let out a giggle, at which Keith looked up and immediately moved his eyes to the floor, confused by the blush that threatened to spread across his cheeks. Could his face _not_ do that for five minutes? “That’s new.”

“Let’s just start, okay?” Keith said, trying to get Lance to focus.

After a moment, they smacked their poles together to initiate a start. Though this was clear to him far before they started, Keith was far more skilled. Lance did his best to put up a fight, but the first time at least, Keith had him on the ground in moments, the pole to his chest.

“I win.” He quirked an eyebrow.

Lance quickly sprung up, muttering something involving ‘unfair’. “Best two out of three, okay?”

Keith just shrugged and stood back to let him stand. “If it makes you feel better.” He got into position again.

“1, 2, 3,” they both chanted before starting, and this time, Lance lasted more than a minute. Most of this came from him being quick enough to dodge Keith’s hits, rather than actually trying to knock him to the ground. However, he didn’t have much stamina in that sense, Keith could tell. He was strong, and he could keep running for a long time, but this he wasn’t used to. Lance would have to make a move.

And that he did. After a moment of looking to the ground, where Keith thought he might surrender, he stepped back and quickly swept Keith’s legs out from under him. While Keith laid there, taken aback, the breath knocked out of him, he felt the tip of Lance’s pole on his chest.

“I win.”

Keith’s jaw jutted out for a moment. He figured he’d easily win the second out of three, and Lance would somehow call for another round. But he’d managed to win—kind of.

“That’s _technically_ cheating,” he muttered in a breathy voice.

“Who cares if it’s cheating?!” Lance said loudly, holding his pole up straight. “That wouldn’t matter if you were an actual Galra soldier.”

"You wouldn't get close enough to trip a Galra soldier," Keith answered. "Focus on your actual combat abilities."

Lance chuckled to himself. "Apparently I can get close enough to trip you."

Keith huffed and stood up. “Alright, fine, one more go. This time, though, don’t try to just trip me right off the bat. Improve your skills.”

Once more, they started, and without his loophole, Lance wasn’t doing as well. Keith would admit, he held a pretty good fight, but it was easy for him to maneuver around Lance and make him fall once more. This time, in a bout of arrogance, he hovered over Lance, holding the pole across his chest, leaning down over him.

“I win.” Lance’s rapid breath hit his face, and that’s when Keith realized how close he was. He was close enough to see small freckles dotting across Lance’s cheeks, and to see his eyes taking him in. After a moment, he was just surprised Lance hadn’t pushed him away. “What were you down here for in the first place?”

Lance’s face was red—Keith presumed he was flushed from the workout. “Hunk made lunch, I thought you might be hungry. Plus, I hadn’t really seen you all day.”

And Keith was _pissed_ that something in that sentence made his face fall of all cockiness, replaced with surprise. “Oh,” he said simply. Lance’s breath was finally evening out, but he still hadn’t shoved Keith off his waist. He was just sort of looking at his face, seeming a little confused. “Did I hit your head?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“No,” Lance said, coming back to his senses. He tried to move Keith, with less anger than Keith would have expected. Maybe his arms were just weak. Keith made it easier for him and stood up, offering a hand to help him up. Lance took it. “No, I’m just hungry. I’ve now swam and worked on hand-to-hand combat, Keith, you wouldn’t understand how much that takes out of you.”

Keith rolled his eyes once again. “Okay, Lance, whatever you say.”

“Oh, good, then let’s get lunch,” he said. He dropped Keith's hand and had a spring in his step as he walked down the corridor to the kitchen.

“Hey, dude!” came Hunk’s voice before Keith could even see him. Lance ran ahead and sat in front of him, about to speak before Hunk said, “Oh, Keith! Haven’t seen you all morning, man. You hungry?”

Keith nodded, hopping up into a seat in front of him. “Yeah, what did you make for lunch?”

“Not much, considering it’s space goo,” Pidge said from the doorway, crossing the room to sit next to Keith. She sounded like she was joking, but Hunk was defensive anyways.

“Hey! I think this is gonna be kinda like a mac and cheese sort of deal. Just try it!” He splattered something that was blue and had the same texture as the space goo into bowls for everyone, sliding each one in front of someone. “ _Voila_.” He sat down and started eating it himself, humming happily. "It's pretty good guys!"

Keith munched quietly on his bowl as everyone did the same, discussing little things about their day. He couldn’t get the image of Lance’s face that close to his own out of his mind. There were probably many things that he never addressed about Lance since they never came in close contact, but that was something different. For a moment, Keith had liked being there, so close to him. And Lance hadn’t pushed him away.

_What the hell?_

However, Lance apparently wasn't overthinking it, as he was back to his typical self. “Guess what guys? I totally beat Keith at his own game today. I beat him at hand-to-hand combat!” came Lance’s voice in the present. Keith’s head snapped in his direction.

“I highly doubt that,” Pidge said through a mouthful of their sort-of-mac-and-cheese lunch. She snickered at Lance's expression.

“It’s true!”

Pidge looked to Keith for confirmation, a skeptical look on her face. It was pretty well-known that Lance preferred to stand back and shoot, rather than act in close combat. “Really?"

“Yeah, one out of three,” he said, rolling his eyes. “And by cheating.”

Lance scowled at him defensively. “Who cares, Keith? I swept you off your feet! I think that it counts, you said it yourself. One out of three.” He angrily took another bite of his lunch.

Keith looked up from his bowl at Lance, raising his eyebrows at his words. He was surprised by the bluntness of them, but was sure he had just used the wrong phrase. He was looking for, ‘tripped.’

Hunk and Pidge both chuckled and looked between the two. “Oh, did you?” Hunk said, setting his spoon in his bowl for a moment. “Wow, who knew fighting could be so romantic?”

“Huh?” Lance spat out.

“’ _I swept you off your feet, Keith!_ ’” Pidge imitated in a high-pitched voice, meeting Lance’s indignant tone. Hunk laughed at her and offered his fist for a fist bump, and she made an explosion sound as they collided.

“That’s not what I meant!” Lance exclaimed loudly, his face red.

Keith could feel his own cheeks going pink as he butt in, “Yeah, what he meant was that he cheated by tripping me.” Right, so Lance _had_ just stumbled over his words.

Lance stood, pointing at Keith. “If it were a real battle- “

“It wasn’t—!“

“Hey, what are we arguing about?” asked Shiro, and they both turned to look. He came into the kitchen, walking to get a bowl for himself. He seemed surprised at their arguing. “I could hear you down the hall. Anything worthwhile?”

“Well, I won a competition in training, and Keith is totally butthurt about it.” Lance looked pleased with himself finally, as though getting his side of the story out first validated it, and he sat to start eating again.

Keith groaned. “And all _I’m_ saying is that the _one_ time he won, it was by cheating.”

Before Lance could respond, Shiro chuckled and shook his head at their bickering. “Well, I’m glad you guys were at least doing something productive.” He took a seat on the other side of Pidge and changed the subject. “So, Allura found another distress signal, and we’re gonna need to send somebody to answer it by tomorrow.”

Everyone looked amongst each other, sharing nervous looks.

“Is it bad? Will it weaken our defenses?” Keith asked Shiro once he finished his bowl of goo.

Shiro hardly glanced up. “No, not really. And besides, we’re here to help as many people as we can escape the Galra. This will be a good moment for you to lead, Keith.”

“Are we sending everyone down?” Pidge asked.

“No,” Shiro answered. “We have reason to believe that it isn’t too dangerous at present. It’s a small planet, so there aren’t many Galra soldiers down there, from what we're understanding.”

It was silent for a moment. “So, what is it that they need?” Keith asked.

Shiro looked up finally, a contemplative look on his face. “Well, Allura could probably answer that better right now,” he began, “but we think they’re low on resources. They’ve lost access because of some sort of binding the Galra set up. They’re limiting even though they’re not there. We need to destroy that so the people will survive.”

Keith nodded. “And we’re going tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re not close enough yet. And you should probably get a little rest before going. You look a bit…disheveled.” Shiro cracked a smile, twiddling a messy lock of hair on Keith's side.

Both Lance and Pidge giggled a little bit at that.

“Fine, who’s going with me?” Keith asked, after glaring at them both. Pidge was on a roll of being a little shit that day.

“Up to you,” Shiro said.

“I want to go!” Lance said excitedly, pushing his bowl away. “I haven’t done anything—“

“We’ve noticed,” Pidge muttered.

“-exciting,” Lance finished, shooting a dirty look in Pidge’s direction. “In a while. I think I should go.”

Great. While Keith was confused by whatever it was that had happened between them, he was supposed to take him on a serious mission. Didn’t sound completely appealing. “No, Lance, you need to stay behind,” he said. “Talk to Shiro about what they’ve found out so you can tell me later. I’ll take Allura.”

Lance sputtered indignantly for a moment. "Shiro can tell you himself!" He looked confused, and Keith felt bad. Lance technically was supposed to be his right-hand man, and who knew if they'd need a sharpshooter. Well, they probably wouldn't, if these people were nonviolent and there were no Galra there. Either way, he needed time to clear his mind.

"It'll be easier to multitask, Lance." He shook the guilt from his conscience and went on, “Pidge, do you want to go as well?”

Pidge straightened up and stopped laughing at a joke Hunk had made to her, then fixed her glasses on her face. “Definitely.”

“Good, you have your team,” Shiro concluded for Keith. “I’ll let Allura know as soon as I’m done. For now, though, finish your lunch and go clean up. We’re sending you guys down tomorrow.”

Keith nodded. He stood to put his bowl away and felt eyes on him. It was obviously Lance, and Keith tried to avoid his gaze as he walked out of the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i managed to make an update for sunday (woo!), so that's good! i did a little bit of editing in the first chapter for any inconsistencies, but nothing too intense if you don't feel up to rereading. mild warning for some violence

In the middle of the night, Keith sat up in his bed, breathing heavily. His heart pounded in his chest, and he sat up in the dark slowly, turning the lights on low so he wasn’t surrounded by nothingness.

Too many ideas were plaguing his mind, either through the form of nightmares or intrusive thoughts that kept him up through the night. These thoughts ranged from his family, his childhood, stupid things he’d done throughout the previous day, and other predicaments to stress over. Normally, he was fine with getting the amount of rest that he did, but he had a lot to deal with the next day.

As soon as he really ‘woke up’ in the morning, he’d have maybe an hour to prepare before taking his small team to work through diplomatic relations—which he didn’t have a record of being wonderful at. Oh, well. Allura would be there.

Keith swung his legs off the bed and rubbed his eyes, trying to rub his thoughts away—as though that would ever work.

He needed water.

Most nights, the freedom of time allowed for Keith’s brain to run through the most taxing and terrifying thoughts without distraction, which had its consequences on him. Sometimes it felt like they were suffocating him, and if he had to think for one more second about everything on his mind—the trip the next day, his past, his future—it might just kill him. So, he ran to the kitchen as quickly as he could without waking anybody up and poured himself a large glass of water, drinking some down to (hopefully) ease his mind.

He couldn’t gulp down the whole glass quickly enough to go right back to bed—the Alteans, for some reason, needed cups bigger than both of his hands—so he decided to take a walk around the ship. Though he could return to his room, it was far more appealing to stay away from it.

The lights were always lowered at night, so it was dark and tranquil, and maybe he could move to the lounge and pass out there for the night. Claim he’d been working on something in the morning.

There he sat for a little bit, looking out the window at space. It was endless. That was the reason they had to lower the lights at night—to make sure no one’s sleeping schedule was out of whack, as they were surrounded by space all the time. But there was always so much more than what they got to focus on. On nights like these, it created a sense of serenity, which was exactly what he needed.

After a while of examining the infinite space before him, Keith’s head was finally leaning on the sofa. He brought the water up to his lips every few minutes. As soon as his eyelids felt like they were growing heavier, they were suddenly wide open again from hearing the door sliding open.

Keith heard a melody being hummed and footsteps approaching, coming to a halt in front of the couch. He glanced up tiredly, barely making out a figure in the darkness.

“Keith?” Lance’s sleepy voice sounded out. Keith felt frozen in place for a moment, his mind racing. His goal was to ease himself into sleep, but with Lance around, his mind was rushing with the thoughts of their interaction earlier, turning it around in his brain repeatedly. Keith wasn’t much of a feelings guy—hence, him having no idea what he was feeling every time Lance came around—but he was pretty sure that had been _something_. And it was making Keith’s heart pound.

But Lance’s voice was really groggy and _cute_ from not being used for a few hours, and not responding to him would be weirder than anything. “Yeah,” Keith answered back quietly.

Then Lance said, “You’re never out here this late.” Keith looked over to him, his eyes well-adjusted to the lighting at that point, and saw him still standing, his eyes bleary and red. How often was he out at night?

“Are you?”

“Well, sometimes.”

Keith nodded at that even though Lance probably couldn’t see. He never saw him as a restless sleeper, as he claimed to always take naps when he had free time. “You uh, you can sit if you want. I was just falling asleep.”

Not one to be held back by boundaries, especially at three in the morning, Lance asked, “Why out here?” He moved around to sit close to Keith on the large couch, his knee brushing against his thigh. It was a simple, probably unconscious touch, but Keith was on edge. He leaned forward to set his glass down on the coffee table, his arm trembling.

Though awake, Lance was clearly tired, as he was quick to rest his head on the back of the couch.

Keith had to remind himself to answer. “I couldn’t sleep,” he shrugged.

“Well, why?” he asked quietly, hardly a mumble. As Keith looked up to his face, he noticed Lance was doing his best to see Keith in the dark. He was squinting in his attempt.

Keith took a breath in. Confiding in Lance about his deepest doubts and insecurities? Not his favorite activity for the middle of the night. “Just thinking. Worried about tomorrow, I guess.”

“Oh,” Lance said. He stared out the window showing the vast space ahead of them, silent for about a minute. “You’ll be fine. It’s nothing bad, or else we’d all be going.”

Ouch. “Sorry you’re not going,” Keith responded, barely above a whisper. Just like he wasn’t used to thanking Lance, he wasn’t used to apologizing—a habit he mostly likely needed to pick up.

“Doesn’t matter,” Lance yawned, turning his head to face the sky. “I don’t care that much. We’ll be forming Voltron soon, anyways. I should stay back and practice with Red, like you said.”

“Yeah, you really should,” he teased, more quietly than he usually would. “You’re really not upset?”

“Well, no,” Lance shrugged uncomfortably. “I was confused. As you said, I’m your second-in-command, so I figured, you know, you’d want me there.”

“I do,” he said. He inhaled shakily, then went on, “But we were arguing. I was just—I was pissed off about that, and now it’s too late to change the plans.”

Lanced laughed, but only by exhaling air from his nose. Keith could only hear due to their close proximity. “Right,” he mumbled. “Well, yeah, Keith, you’re forgiven.”

He nodded again in response, not sure if Lance could see alright in the dark yet. His comment was coming through his mind, that Keith wasn’t out there much at night. “Do you come out here a lot?” Keith asked.

“What?”

“You kind of insinuated that you come out here often,” he pointed out, resting his chin on his hands. “Is there a reason?”

Lance looked at him again, more concentrated this time. “It’s just when I can’t sleep,” he responded, his forehead creasing. “I don’t know. Even if I’m tired, sometimes. It’s calm out here and I guess there’s more to look at, so that helps.”

“Do you have nightmares?” It was a sensitive question, sure, but sometimes when it’s three a.m. you’re a lot less guarded, and a little gentler about everything. Besides, Keith had them all the time.

“Uh,” Lance started, taking a few seconds to collect his thoughts. “Not…nightmares. Bad dreams, sometimes, though.” He looked as though he could register some embarrassment, but he didn’t mind sharing.

Keith gazed at his face, illuminated by moonlight. “Oh,” he said. “What about?”

A sigh came from him before he spoke. “My family. It’s not a nightmare cause I’m not scared. I just always finally get to be with them again, and I’m really happy, and then they’re torn away from me.” He scooted closer to Keith, his knees falling on top of his lap. “Keith, I’m starting to forget some of their faces. It’s really scary.”

Keith sucked in a breath, examining the face in front of him. He didn’t have a family like Lance, and he couldn’t even try to understand. The closest he could imagine was disappearing from the Paladins, and that was bad enough. “I’m sorry,” Keith answered quietly. “That must be really tough, man. I’m sorry. Do you have a picture?”

Lance shook his head. “I did at the Garrison, but I only brought my jacket, obviously. I had a picture of my mom in the pocket, though. She always believed in me, so, I think it was like a good-luck charm, in my head.”

Tears were prickling Lance’s eyes, so Keith glanced away to give him a sense of privacy. He tried to find words that would maybe give him hope, or make him feel better. The lost look on Lance’s face was hurting his heart. “I bet she misses you a lot,” he said, “and she’s really proud.”

Lance was looking at him, his eyes watery, but a smile on his face now. “Yeah.” He kept his eyes on Keith. Maybe he was too tired to move his head, but he was determined to keep his eyes open, apparently.

“What is it that you were listening to?” he asked, referring to the melody that he’d heard Lance humming to more than once.

For a moment Lance’s face blanched, and Keith was worried he’d said the worst thing possible. “Oh! Well…” he said, collecting himself slowly. “It was my older sister’s favorite song.”

Keith looked at his face and could visibly see the pain. Lance was gnawing at his bottom lip, his face a shade of pink in the moonlight. Keith didn’t know what to say, though he was one hundred percent certain that he didn’t want to hurt Lance after all he just admitted. And he knew the boy missed his family. It was obvious when you paid attention. And Keith did.

Maybe he paid too much attention to Lance.

“Could I hear it?” slipped out after a few moments. Lance stared at him, and Keith could tell that he was debating whether to show it to him. Something that he had managed not to lose. Under his scrutiny, Keith felt his cheeks burn. But he let it slide for the moment.

Slowly, as though coming back to his senses, Lance spoke in an almost normal tone, “Yeah. Uh, yeah, dude, for sure.”

He restarted the song on his device and sat it in between them.

And Keith was immediately under his scrutiny again. Lance looked like he was searching, pondering Keith’s face for a response as quick as he could get one. His leg was shaking against his, Keith noticed. He was anxious. And he moved somehow closer. It may have been a subconscious comfort thing on Lance’s end, but Keith stiffened for a moment.

However, the song distracted him. It clearly was a love song, and though Keith couldn’t understand the words, there was enough emotion in them for him to understand that much. And otherwise, a large portion of the song was just a beautiful guitar melody. He felt like swaying, but instead just relaxed for a moment, his eyes closing.

When he opened his eyes, Lance’s eyebrow was raised, but he seemed relieved. “Do you like it?” He asked immediately.

Keith nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s a love song?”

Again, Lance took a moment, seemingly to guess if Keith was making fun of it. Which, he guessed, would have broken Lance’s heart. “Yes,” he answered. “My sister, she started teaching it to me once I could speak.”

“Really?” Keith asked, and Lance nodded. “Did she still listen to it a lot when you were there?”

Lance finally had something other than a _sad_ smile on his face. “Yeah. In fact, she loved it so much, that she used to sing it to my nephew as a lullaby.” He fidgeted and looked away from Keith’s face. “And she asked me to as well, when I babysat. Which I did a lot.”

“That’s sweet,” Keith said gently, trying not to break the fragile surface that was Lance’s emotions at that moment. “I bet he’s cute.”

“Of course,” Lance said, trying to boast, but it was hard since he was tired. He just sounded fond. “He got his looks from Uncle Lancey-Lance.”

Keith shook his head and let his face show a small smile. “Right. Do you still know all the words?”

“Yeah. Definitely,” Lance nodded. “I listen to it a lot.”

Keith hoped that maybe he had taken a turn for the better, instead of the worse for Lance. “It’s very pretty.”

Lance smiled proudly. “Isn’t it?” He rested his head once more on his own arms, and since Lance seemed to be rather cheerful again, Keith couldn’t help but notice that he was about one step away from being on his lap, which made his cheeks burn. Lance was incredibly warm.

But his voice startled Keith after a moment. “Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we friends now, or something?”

Well, there was no way the answer was no. Both of them gravitated towards each other for more sensitive subjects, as though somehow, they’d understand each other best and be more considerate—despite their usual fighting. “If that’s what you want to call it, I’d say yeah.”

Lance smiled sleepily. “Well, good. But don’t think that means I’m ever going easy on your ass, Kogane.” He closed his eyes, and Keith could only describe himself as feeling warm inside. Lance was pretty cuddly there, on his almost-lap.

“Same to you.”

“Night, Keith.” And like an instinct, he moved to lean his head against Keith’s shoulder.

Keith set his hand on Lance’s waist reflexively, which just prompted the boy to lazily lean into him more. If the lights were on, one could see that Keith’s face was burning the color of his old lion. He considered moving to avoid embarrassment and stiff limbs in the morning, but decided against it. Lance was on his lap, he’d live with a little stiffness.

“Goodnight, Lance.”

 

In the morning, Keith woke up to a voice. He blinked his eyes slowly, trying to get the sleep out of them, but that didn’t work out for a few more moments, and he heard the person first.

“Keith?” A short laugh, then a poke to his side. “Keith, buddy, wake up.”

His eyes finally opened to see Hunk standing in front of him. In his sleep, he had fallen back a little, and he was currently smooshed in between two couch cushions. He glanced down to see Lance face down on his chest. Oh, that’s probably why Hunk was giggling.

“Dude, did you guys fall asleep together? For real?” Hunk asked, giggling at him. He crouched down to be closer to eye level to Keith—who was a little grumpy in the morning, admittedly.

Keith rubbed his eyelids as he spoke, “Not on purpose.” Hunk raised an eyebrow, and since Keith had an arm still wrapped around Lance, that was a reasonable reaction. He tried to turn his neck to look at Hunk better, but his joints were aching. Though, on the plus side, the weight of Lance’s against him was kind of cozy. For a tick, Keith was worried that he couldn’t breathe since he was facedown and all, but then he felt a steady inhale and exhale.

Hunk smiled. “Well, at least he’s sleeping. He told me that he hasn’t been sleeping very well lately,” he said. “Oh, shoot, I probably wasn’t supposed to say anything. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his neck guiltily and shot a look at Lance’s currently crumpled face.

“It’s not a big deal,” Keith yawned. “He kinda said so anyways.” Hunk nodded at that.

“Did you sleep well?” He chuckled quietly, as Keith had groaned while trying to sit up more. “Cause, no offense, but you look kinda rough. And you’re gonna have to be up in a little bit, so, you should try to get some rest if you didn’t.”

“I slept fine,” he answered shortly. _More than fine_. “Just need to stretch. Can you help move Lance off me?”

“Aw, but he looks so cute!” the other boy responded, poking his sleeping friend’s cheek.

Keith blushed a little and looked down to avoid any suspicion. “Sure, just, can you get Pidge? If you just drag him off me you’ll wake him up.”

“Yeah, be right back!”

While he had a moment of silence, Keith slowly inched into a sitting position, careful not to move Lance’s head too much. He tried to move him so that his face wasn’t stuffed in Keith’s shirt. This made Lance shift around a little bit on top of him, move his arm up to rest his head on, and he held his breath as the boy did so. Once he was done, Keith smiled. He liked having Lance there.

However, quickly enough, Hunk was back with Pidge.

“Alright, alright, what is it that you needed me for—what is this?” Pidge asked curiously as they walked into the room. She giggled at the scene. “Oh man, I wish Allura was here to see this. What’s up, Keith?”

Keith huffed grumpily and scowled. “Pidge, can you just help move him? I don’t wanna wake him up, it’s early—weren’t you sleeping? Why are you so awake?”

“I don’t sleep much,” Pidge shrugged. “Actually, I think when I was like, nine, I might have—“

Hunk shushed her. “Hang on Pidge, sounds interesting, but we don’t want to wake him up. Okay? That’s the _opposite_ of our goal.”

“Okay, Pidge grab his legs, Hunk grab his arms, I’ll make sure his head doesn’t drop. On three.”

“Right, okay,” Pidge moved and took hold of Lance’s ankles, while Hunk grabbed his forearms. They nodded affirmatively, and Keith took hold of his head.

“One, two, three,” Hunk whispered, and they all lifted. Hunk lifted too quickly though and caused Pidge to drop his feet, and Lance went cascading to the floor, only inches away from the coffee table.

Keith winced at the sound it made, and Pidge looked apologetic.

“Well, we failed at our goal,” Hunk commented quietly.

 “Hunk, you lifted too high, my arms don’t move like that when I’m crouched down!”

“Sorry Pidge! It was just an automatic thing—“

Lance groaned from the floor. “What are you guys doing?” he mumbled, not moving from the ground. Keith leaned over the couch to see him. His eyes were still closed.

“Trying to move you without waking you up,” Pidge said matter-of-factly.

Hunk leaned down over him. “Just go back to bed Lance…you’re feeling very sleepy.”

A smile came across Lance’s face as he curled up on the ground. He used his arm as a pillow and nodded absentmindedly. Keith rolled his eyes and pulled a real pillow from behind himself, then dropped it to the ground. Lance took it easily.

“Thanks Keith,” he murmured, sounding close to sleep again. Keith smiled down at the ground for a moment, then cleared his throat and looked away. He really needed to stop that.

“Is there any breakfast?”

Pidge grinned. “Not yet, but I think we should try to make waffles. What do you think, Hunk?”

“Dude, let’s try it!” Hunk jumped up and grinned. “You coming, Keith?” he asked.

Keith nodded and stretched again. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.” Hunk nodded and went running down the hall, Pidge following. Well, they were awake easily. Keith stood slowly, trying to build up the strength he needed to start his day so early.

“Make sure you save some for me,” Lance said quietly as he walked past.

Keith grinned. “Sure thing.”

 

After about an hour, and two cups of coffee-tasting sludge for Keith, Allura came shuffling into the kitchen. She was still in her nightgown, and was surprised to see the three already finished with breakfast.

“You three are up early,” she commented, her eyes still showing sleepiness. She crossed the kitchen to prepare a dish for herself. “Just wanted a head start on the day?”

Keith’s thoughts were too preoccupied with Lance to answer, wondering if he would also be joining them in the kitchen before he had to leave. Wondering if Keith had helped him sleep more soundly. A few times, he drank from his cup, but was completely unfocused on the communal conversation.

Hunk answered her, “Yeah, I woke up early and found Keith on the couch, thought he might want to go back to his room for more sleep.” In front of him, he still had some food to work through. ‘You gotta make it last, bro,’ was his explanation. Apparently, it was still warm enough to be enjoyable.

At that, Allura raised an eyebrow. “Why is that Keith?” She sipped a cup of a pink juice she had poured moments earlier and peered at him over the rim.

Keith startled, then lifted his own drink to his mouth to give himself a tick to adjust his mind. _Just start with the honest, original reason_. “I was just thinking about today, thought taking a little walk might help me relax.”

As the princess started nodding, considering his answer, Shiro strode into the kitchen, showered and dressed for the day already. He glanced around the room. “Is everything okay?”

“Peachy keen,” Pidge chimed in, a grin on her face. She was on like, her fourth cup of the coffee-sludge. “Prepared for today?”

Shiro relaxed the tension that was in his shoulders from initially walking into the previously-silent kitchen. “I think we’ve taken all necessary precautions thus far. The real question is, are you ready?”

A short chuckle came from her. “Sorry, I’m a little hyper. Yes, though, I’m quite prepared.”

“Good,” he said, “unlike some of us, apparently.” Shiro patted Keith’s back and flashed a joking smile. “You better get dressed, buddy. And look alive.”

Keith groaned, wishing he was back on the couch.

“Oh, go easy on him, Shiro,” Allura said, an amused laugh in her voice, “he fell asleep on the couch.”

“Really?” Shiro raised a brow. He dropped some breakfast onto a plate and smirked. “Was that comfortable?”

Keith’s voice was slightly more alert than before. “Not particularly,” he said, focus slipping away from him again. All he was thinking of was Lance asleep against his chest, his steady breathing, and their conversation they had the night before. The way that Lance had confided in him.

Vaguely, Keith heard a small chuckle from Shiro’s general direction, but then Lance was stumbling into the kitchen, and as much as Keith tried to remain impartial, he definitely had his eyes trained on that part of his vision.

“Morning everyone,” Lance said, shuffling across the kitchen to get some juice.

Pidge, the instigator, asked, “Where’s your robe, Lance?” And Keith quickly caught on to what she was doing. Lance had a tendency to make a show of himself in the mornings, decked out in his fluffy robe and slippers.

This caused Keith to tear his eyes away from the boy, and train them on Pidge, a glare set on his face. Pidge smiled smugly and then returned her attention to Lance.

“In my room,” he answered, brandishing the carton of juice—which was still open. Allura grabbed his wrist to prevent him from spilling it all over the floor. “Obviously.”

“Oh, of course, sorry,” she said. “But, why aren’t you wearing it? It’s pretty chilly, don’t you think, Hunk?”

Shiro was shifting his gaze around the room, and he met Keith’s eyes for a moment, asking the question of _what’s going on?_ with them. Keith shook his head and avoided his gaze from that moment on.

“Uhh…yes,” Hunk said, nodding to himself, seeming a little confused by the mind game that early in the morning.

“Well, I wasn’t in my room,” Lance said. He was squinting, similar to Shiro, trying to piece together the shenanigans. Keith wanted to throw himself out of the room to avoid the tension. “I was on the couch. And I wanted food more than my robe, man.”

After that admission, Allura’s eyes widened, and she was clearly putting the pieces together herself. She looked at Hunk with her mouth gaping. She may have been a profession diplomat, and a beautifully-mannered princess, but she was also known to be a bit of a gossip. Except now, she wasn’t quiet. “You two were on the couch together!”

Lance squinted with bewilderment in his eyes. Slowly came the realization that Keith had been discovered a while ago, so there was no lying about that. “Well—yeah, we were.” His cheeks were a nice shade of pink.

“Good to know you two are getting along better then,” Shiro said, biting back a smile, trying to look serious about it. Keith rolled his eyes. Lance met his gaze and cocked his head for a moment. Keith looked away after only a moment.

“We’re bonding!” Lance joked, the ‘bonding moment’ joke the first thing coming to his brain, probably knowing it would get a few laughs to ease the tension. And it did, everyone giggled. “Totally. See, now we’ll collaborate better.”

That what he decided to go with? Geez. Keith put his face in his hands, rubbing his temples with his thumbs, wishing this conversation were all a figment of his imagination.

“Keith! No more sleeping,” Allura scolded, coming close to slap his wrist. “You have _very_ important matters to attend to, remember.”

“I’m not—“

“Come on,” Shiro said. “I’ll take you to your lion, okay? You should start getting ready now.”

“Oh, Pidge? Make sure you’re ready,” Keith said with an edge to his voice. “I’ll see you and Allura down there.”

On the way to get Keith’s suit, Shiro didn’t bring up the confusion in the kitchen. Keith knew that if he were to ever bring it up to Shiro, the guy would listen, but maybe he was trying to spare Keith the embarrassment. And he was thankful for Shiro’s level of chillness.

And soon enough, Keith was in the Black Lion, preparing for takeoff. He grasped the controls, closing his eyes. “Alright, I want us to work better together this time,” he said quietly. “I know you may not trust me completely yet, but I’ll take care of you if you’ll do the same. Don’t worry.”

The Black Lion quietly rumbled, and Keith took it as a positive reaction. He nodded. “Right.” He heard Shiro’s voice in his headset.

“Keith, Pidge, Allura, be cautious down there. These people haven’t met their basic needs in several weeks for food and water. They have a much higher tolerance than humans for such a thing, but it’s been long enough. If you need backup for anything, just call.”

Keith nodded. “Got it, Shiro.” He opened his eyes and settled into a comfortable piloting position. “Pidge, Allura, you two ready?”

“Yup!” Pidge responded quickly.

“Affirmative,” Allura answered. “I’ll lead us down there.” And sure enough, he saw her take off and followed along.

Keith chuckled. “Yeah, you can do the talking as well.”

“Well, I’m capable of doing so if you’re not,” she said jokingly. Keith heard Pidge giggle.

Soon, Keith was able to see the planet from its atmosphere. It was mountainous but green, and he could see where it rounded off in either direction. So, if the people were ever separated for privacy, they were probably separated by mountains instead of distance.

As they came closer, the people looked less like ants, and he could actually see what they looked like. They were furry, about the same texture as goats, but they were on two legs and had three sets of arms. Their faces were rather pink, and their eyes were wide.

The Black Lion was speeding up and Keith frowned. They needed to be slowing down, as they were getting closer to the surface. He yanked back on the controls and smacked his head off the seat.

“Ow!”

“Keith, buddy, you okay?” Pidge asked as he cursed under his breath.

“Yeah,” he said before removing his helmet. He rubbed the back of his head, which was now sore. “Sorry,” he said to his lion and patted her before exiting.

Allura spoke next, as he was putting his helmet on again. “They do not appear to be aggressive, but let’s keep in mind they haven’t had access to food or water. That can make anyone a little—er—loopy, so be cautious.”

“Right,” said Pidge.

Keith hopped out of his lion and met the other two as they walked. “Okay.” There was a large group of the creatures huddled together. One was dressed different from the others, appearing to be their leader.

Keith cleared his throat. “Excuse me, we come in peace,” he raised is hands in the air to show innocence. “We are three Paladins of Voltron, and we’re here to help. We understand that your supply of food and water has been cut off by the Galra.”

Allura patted his back and snuck a proud smile at him. He had done well, for that moment.

“Oh, thank heavens!” An older-looking alien in their small crowd cried out. Keith winced at the shrillness of her voice. “They left us for dead, we haven’t been able to feed our children for days.” She held a smaller one of the creatures to her chest, sobbing.

“We’re going to find a way to help you,” Allura said, further approaching them. She looked sad for them, but determined—this was a new method that the Galra had tried. Apparently, these poor aliens had nothing to offer them, so they were left for dead. “We’ll need you to show us around. Is there any way you can assist us to your main food source?”

The leader spoke up. He had a very deep voice. “Of course. Some of us are rather frail, so I will take you.”

Allura nodded. Pidge shoved her glasses up on her face and walked with the others as the leader alien led them towards their trapped food supply.

“So, what exactly is it that they did to keep your food away from you? Some sort of Galra tech?” she asked him.

“Precisely,” he said. His voice was deep, and sounded as though it could boom—a good part of his leadership, probably—but if it ever could, it had lost much of its strength. “Some sort of force field that won’t allow you through. Zaps you pretty nastily if you try.”

Keith frowned. “Has anyone passed from that alone?”

The leader faced him for a moment while he walked. “No, not quite.” He cleared his throat and continued forward. “We’ve been able to tend all that attempted to back to health, as they were close to sacrificing themselves, it was only fair.” He mumbled to himself for a moment, a thought out loud that Keith couldn’t hear.

Pidge raised her eyebrow and made eye contact with Keith, who shrugged. She looked ahead, as they were nearing the top of the hill, and a telling look came across her face. “Up there?” she said quietly, staring at whatever it was as soon as she saw it.

The leader nodded. “Come quickly.” He scurried forward, and the others jogged to keep up.

Then they were up close to the thing. It was buzzing with energy. Pidge examined it carefully now that they were closer. Keith was sure that she would be far more fascinated with it if it were not literally starving creatures to death.

“This is what is killing us off, slowly but surely,” the deep voice spoke. He had an eerie look on his face—probably from the horror of the technology. “But not for long.”

Suddenly, a hand was on Keith’s neck and right arm, and his head was being shoved against the force field. He shouted, feeling immediate, intense pain, grasping for his knife with his left hand, but soon the thing had that hand captive as well.

“Keith!” Pidge and Allura shouted, and he could hear the sound of a bayard.

“I have to feed my people somehow,” came the voice in his ear through gritted teeth, and Keith was probably screaming, and he could hear and feel impact from the two girls, and then everything was going black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm alright so there's that! leave a comment or some kudos if you're feeling up to it. you can come bug me on tumblr if you'd like, my url is the same as my username!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i'm a day later than usual in updating, i've been sick! i'm sorry. i hope maybe this update helps a little bit :)

After Keith, Pidge, and Allura departed, Lance decided he would hold true to his word, and went off to see Red. Though he had been very loopy the previous night, he could remember the conversation, and Keith asking him to make sure he visited and bonded with his lion. So, he did. It was the least he could do.

“Hey, Red,” he cheered, plopping down in front of her. “How’ve ya been? Sorry I haven’t really seen ya in a bit, it’s been busy.” The great face in front of him barely lit up, and he felt something in his chest deflate.

A little schmoozing couldn’t hurt. “Keith thought I should come say hi,” he said carefully, gazing up at the Red beauty. “And so did I, of course. To be fair, though, it’s his fault that we haven’t been able to do anything wicked cool lately. I tried for us!”

A low grumble sounded from Red, one that Lance took as a sign that she was at least listening now. Mild flirting always seemed to work for him.

“But he said no,” Lance shrugged. The previous night’s events were still winding their way through his brain, remembering Keith’s apology about the mission, among other things. He shook his head, and sprawled out dramatically on his back. “I don’t understand him, Red.”

The Lion seemed to almost chuckle, which caused Lance to cross his arms defensively. Hopefully she was at least on his side of things. “He’s just so hard, you know? Hard to read, and he has like a hard face—like, expression. Always. I’ve seen him smile about twice recently. And that was due to yours truly.”

And you know, he appreciated that fact.

“Quite the charmer, eh?” Lance wiggled his eyebrows, most likely losing all progress he had made with his lion. “I don’t know, he’s better about…pushing me away, I guess. Actually, he came to me, the other day,” he smiled.

The lion was loosening up. Maybe talking about Keith helped her ease into bonding with him even more. That seemed a bit like cheating, but she was opening up.

“No! I don’t  _care_  that he did, but it was cool, I guess.” Lance sighed, thinking out loud more than deliberately talking at that point. “I didn’t really think he had any insecurities, he was always just badass and moody and like the bad-boy stereotype—oh, as though you’d know of that,” he flushed.

As the Lion rumbled defensively—also a hothead, he needed to remember—he said, “Okay, one thing you’ll learn about me quickly: I’m sensitive. I know, shocker, but that’s what makes me up, baby. I’m mostly an open book, but digging into the deep stuff is hard. I guess I need to share that with you though, huh?” He sat up and set his arms on his knees. “Did Keith? Is he actually a little sensitive sometimes?”

The Lion’s communication was creeping into his mind, making them more capable of working together. She wasn’t sharing everything—not even close—but she was sharing more.

“I knew it,” he whispered. “I don’t wanna push anything, but he was really nice last night. We talked for a bit, and he was real nice about my family and stuff, and then we kinda fell asleep together—which is still a little weird, but—“

“Lance!” Shiro’s voice travelled down the hall. Lance snapped around, startled entirely by the urgency in his voice. Then he showed up in the doorway, and his face was white as a ghost.

Lance frowned, confused. “What’s the matter, man? You look a bit wonky.” Shiro bolted across the room and as he explained, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

“Keith was apparently hurt on the planet, we don’t know how bad but…it seems serious, and we see the Black Lion coming back.”

And then Lance was running with him, meeting Hunk on his way. He felt like he couldn’t move fast enough.

As he ran, his mind hit him with overwhelming thoughts. Things had changed. For good. Lance recently admitted to himself that he had a crush on Keith, even back at the Garrison, but it had taken him a long time and several talks with Hunk and Allura to finally say it, and he had chosen to compute his emotions through…arguing.

Keith was always spectacular in his classes, always a phenomenal pilot, and even with his temper and everything else, he was good at  _everything._  But he was so apathetic about everyone else. So, Lance made himself into an enemy. That was his way of getting Keith’s attention.

He figured Red probably knew. The Lion was only thousands of years old, so, it wasn’t her first time around this whole shebang.

But Keith never seemed to figure it out. And even if he hadn’t, being able to talk to him recently without screaming had been nice. Falling asleep on the guy had been nice—surprisingly cuddlier than he had expected.

And Lance’s heart was beating out of his chest, because now Keith was stumbling out of his lion and his face was full of red and nobody knew if he was okay. What if he forgot everything? What if he fell into a coma? What if he died? After seeing all the injuries they had attained through forming Voltron, Lance had never seen this much blood. Pouring down his face, down his jacket, off his jeans.

Shiro’s voice was snapping him back to attention again, luckily the calm one in the situation.

“Keith, can you walk?” he was saying. Keith coughed before he answered.

“Yeah, I guess.” But the moment he broke out of Shiro’s grasp, he fell to the floor. Lance didn’t realize how harshly he was holding on to Hunk’s arm. His friend had grabbed his hand to comfort him.

Lance said, “So, I guess not,” in response to that sad attempt at walking. For a moment, he expected Keith to whip his head around and spout out some witty argument, but he seemed to not have heard Lance.

“Alright, Lance, come over here and help me take him to a cryopod.” Lance slipped away from Hunk and put an arm around Keith’s waist, pulling the boy against his side. He wouldn’t fall, he wouldn’t get any more hurt.

“Oh, man. Oh, man Keith, I’m so glad you’re alive.” Hunk seemed a little woozy, as Lance looked back at him. He probably had held onto Lance for comfort as well. “Oh, god, there’s so much blood,” he said, falling against the wall.

“We’ll come back for you in a minute, Hunk,” Lance said quickly, and he and Shiro started rushing to the sleep pods as quickly as possible. Keith’s head hung forward, and Lance shifted to make it fall against one of their shoulders, which made him groan.

Lance winced, tightening his grip. “Sorry.”

“Stay with us, buddy,” Shiro said, a drag in his voice.

“I’m fine,” Keith grumbled.

The two shuffled as quickly as they could across the ship to get Keith where he needed to be. When they arrived in the large room, Lance took all of his weight so that Shiro could prep the machine.

“Do we just throw him in there?” Lance asked as Shiro was turning back around. He frowned. “Like, shouldn’t we at least…clean up a bit?”

“Well…” Shiro’s eyes darted around the room, searching for that answer. “We don’t have time to look for clean clothes or anything, Lance. He’s bleeding too much.”

Lance nodded and assisted Shiro in lifting Keith into the cryopod. Before they closed the latch, he lifted his arm and wiped some blood with his sleeve off of Keith’s face. The boy hardly moved at that point, most likely passed out. Lance stepped back.

The door shut, and Lance sat down, facing away from the pod. Shiro finished making tedious fixes to the setup and then looked down at him.

“You wanna stay down here, Lance?” Shiro asked, leaning down and patting his shoulder to get his attention. “I’m gonna go wait for the others with Hunk. Make sure he’s okay and everything.”

Lance nodded and stared ahead. “Do you know how long he’ll be in there?”

“Probably till the evening,” he answered. “I’ll bring the others down when they get back. Based on the communication we’ve had, it’ll probably be an hour tops.”

With a quick nod, Shiro was gone, and Lance was left alone with the boy sleeping in the pod. Seeing him so defenseless was beyond weird. Like, the guy was usually doing kick-ass moves and threatening people and training. And now he was…sleeping, kind of. Passed out.

Lance couldn’t wait for him to wake up.

 

It took _hours_.

But Allura and Pidge came back sooner. Lance was laying down on the ground, playing with his thumbs, and then he heard their voices and his head snapped.

“And it worked!”

“I was so proud.”

“Oh, there’s Keith. Lance! How’s Keith?” Allura came running over to him, halting by his side.

“Well…” Lance sat and stretched out his muscles, being tight after not moving for a long while. “He’s just been like this for a while, you know, recovery. Before that though, he looked pretty messy,” he joked, a grimace on his face.

“We saw,” Pidge said. She plopped down next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. “It was rough. And then handling all of that with just the two of us? I’m actually wiped out for once, man.”

Lance nodded and then looked up at Allura. “I’m sure it was a little easier for you guys, considering you had giant lions, and they were starving.”

She crossed her arms and scowled at him. “They tried to take us down several times, but you are correct, it was much easier for us.” Her eyes trailed up to the cryopod where Keith was resting, and she muttered, “He’ll be out soon.”

The two sitting across from her nodded. Lance was facing Allura, and Pidge faced the other direction, dozing off for a little while.

Lance spoke quietly, “What happened to him down there?”

Allura folded her hands and looked past him, maybe conjuring the image up in her head. “There was a force field, created by the Galra,” she began, “and it’s what kept the citizens away from their resources. Once their leader took us down there, we had time to ask a few questions…then he took Keith and tried to kill him, with that _thing_.” She pressed her lips together. “To feed his people.”

Lance’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “They were gonna eat Keith?” he exclaimed. “He probably wouldn’t even taste good.” He winced at his own joke, and the look Allura was giving him. “Sorry. Bad time. But wait—if it was Galra technology, how could it hurt him?”

“Earthlings can hurt each other with their own weapons, correct?” She offered, an eyebrow raised. “Although, we were considering that perhaps his heritage allowed him to withstand it longer than Pidge or myself could have, as it took us longer than it should have to get the creature off him.”

With those words, Lance nodded and relaxed into the floor again, waiting. At least Keith was alive, and he was safe back at home.

Well, their temporary home. To Lance, it didn’t feel like his real home on Earth, but it did have the same aura. The two had completely different dynamics, what with the different personalities and…circumstances. But at the end of the day, after a long battle or extensive journey, Lance wanted to crawl back into his room on the ship and rest. They may not have been his family, but he wanted to be with his friends on the ship; share some laughs, eat some good space food, poke fun at each other, piss someone off (it happened often). They were the closest thing to family he had, and they were pretty dang awesome.

 

Several hours later, after Hunk, Shiro, and Coran had joined the rest of them, there was a stir in the air. Everyone turned to look at the cryopod, which was finally opening. Lance had been standing and stretching, but he rushed to the front of the pod.

“I’ve got this!” he said, as Keith came tumbling out of the machine. A smile came to his face as he gently grabbed Keith’s wrist and said, “Need some help?”

The boy’s face scrunched up at the light and he glanced around at his friends, clearly disoriented. “Yeah,” he muttered, rubbing his eyelids. He grabbed Lance’s arm and stepped out of the pod, steadying himself on two legs with his help.

Lance remained gentle but strong to make sure Keith didn’t accidentally tip over. “You feeling better?” he asked. “Cause, you’re looking better, totally.” Shiro stood and took hold of Keith’s other side, a relieved smile on his face.

Keith groaned and pressed his fingers against his forehead. “Not really. Uh, I guess I’m not bleeding anymore though…”

“Oh yeah, you looked pretty rough when you first got back—“

“Thanks.”

“—There was blood  _everywhere_. Hunk totally passed out.” Lance could feel excitement bubbling in his chest, obviously because he hadn’t really talked to anyone for a while. And, you know, Keith was close to him.

“In my defense, his entire face was covered in blood!” Hunk said, scrambling to stand. He smiled at Keith. “But you look a lot better now, dude.”

Coran rushed towards the front of them all. “Move back, move back,” he said, until he was right in front of Keith. “Is he responding well to everything?” He fished a flashlight out of his pocket and flashed it between Keith’s eyes. “Hm. They’re a wee bit uneven. Might be one of those…contusions, you call them?”

“Concussions,” Allura corrected quietly. “But, that should probably heal within a few days, if the cryopod did not fix it already.”

Lance kept his eyes fixed on Keith, nervous for some illogical reason that he would disappear, or fall and break if he let go. Keith had his eyes squeezed shut, his thick brows drawn in a frown, and he was still holding his forehead.

“Maybe we should get him out to the living room,” Lance suggested calmly. “I don’t think standing is his strong suit right now.”

And then Keith dropped everything to shoot a glare at Lance, which just made him grin.

“Good idea!” Hunk said. “Ugh, my butt is sore from sitting on the floor for so long.” He rubbed his lower back and stretched, wincing.

“Come on, buddy,” Lance said as he slipped his arm around Keith’s waist. He started walking and got about ten feet before Keith started complaining.

He insisted, “You know, I can walk. I had a while to recuperate and everything.”

“Yeah, okay, and last time you said that you fell on your already-bloody face, so I’m going to have to insist on helping you. Unless you prefer that I carry you,” Lance giggled, and the expression Keith’s face made it worse. Contorted and red was a great look on him.

“You better not.”

“Keith is back, guys, he’s threatening people and everything.” Keith huffed and Lance was extra careful about setting him down on the couch. Then he took the seat right next to him.

Keith laid his head back on the couch, gazing around slowly around at everything surrounding them. “There’s two of everything…” he said, a tinge of worry in his voice.

“That’s typical,” Coran piped up, a finger in the air. “One of the symptoms of the concussions. There might also be fatigue, nausea, and light-headedness, among other things. So, you’ll have to take it easy for a couple of days, alright?”

With a slight nod, Keith asked, “How long was I in there?”

“Well, you got back only about a varga after you left, and it’s dinnertime, so, quite a while!” Coran answered.

“Are you hungry, Keith?” Shiro asked quietly, moving to sit close to him. “Hunk started dinner a while ago, but none of us had an appetite.”

Hunk chimed in, “Yeah, not even me, your head put me off for a while there,” he said, then rushed to say, “No offense.”

Keith frowned and pressed his fingers into his forehead a few times, feeling around. “Is it swollen?”

“Nope,” Lance replied. “Just have a cut right,” he lifted a finger to the area, “there.”

“Don’t touch it!” he snapped.

“I didn’t!” Lance said with a laugh.

Shiro gently nudged Keith’s side as a reminder of his question.

“Oh, yeah, food sounds great,” he nodded at Shiro, and Hunk volunteered to grab plates for everyone. Keith then addressed Pidge and Allura. “Are you guys okay?”

Allura smiled. “Yes, we’re alright.”

“Yeah!” Pidge nodded, rejuvenated by her mini nap. “Your head was totally wicked at first, but we took care of that, and didn’t really get hurt in the process.”

“Kinda funny how those guys were so against us helping with their food supply,” Lance added, frowning. Granted, he wasn’t patient either, but their plan to kill the ones helping them wasn’t a productive one. Complaining sometimes worked for him, at least.

Keith shrugged next to him. “They were desperate.”

Lance pursed his lips. “Well, yeah, but they were like two seconds away from having you guys free their stuff up.”

Another shrug. “Yeah, I guess they thought it was gonna take a while.”

“Dude, could you quit justifying them trying to literally eat you? You can’t even justify being in the same room as me sometimes,” Lance chuckled, astounded, and gestured at him. “This guy.”

“But they’re safe and everything now?” Keith sat forward anxiously, his hands clasped together.

“Yes,” Allura answered. “They are perfectly safe and should be eating themselves back to health. However, we do not plan to return any time soon so long as that is the case.”

“That’s so weird,” Keith chuckled. He relaxed back against the couch and rested against Lance’s arm, his eyes closing. “They were gonna eat me.” Lance looked down and smiled to himself.

As he came back with food, Hunk started laughing. “I’m proud! Keith’s joking again.” He struggled carrying trays on his arms, nearly losing balance. “He never does that.”

“You could have asked for help,” Pidge pointed out, watching him carefully squat to set it all down. “Two of us could have easily gotten that in here.”

“It’s not that bad,” Hunk shook her off, finally situated. “I’m fine, we’re fine. Who’s ready to eat?” He sat and pulled a plate close to himself to start eating, and allowed everyone to get their own plates.

Keith barely pulled himself forward to get a plate, reaching about two inches to the right away from his silverware. After he was sure that the boy could get his dinner, Lance giggled. He got his own plate and ignored the killer look that Keith was probably giving him.

 

After dinner, once everyone had shoved their plates back on the table, refused to claim responsibility for the dirty dishes, and Keith had started to fall asleep again, Allura spoke up.

“Right, Lance. You’re closest to Keith’s room, so you should probably take care of him. Take him to bed.” She smiled as pleasantly as she could, though she was clearly commanding.

He gave her a thumbs-up. “Sure thing. Come on, Keith.” He stood, and Keith’s head fell back against the couch, waking him up.

Keith quickly stood and began to walk in a very unstable fashion, and Lance put his hands on his hips. If Keith was going to be an idiot, that wasn’t  _his_  fault. After a few quick moments of his attempted escape, he crashed into a wall, and held on to it.

With a few easy steps, Lance crossed the room. “Slow down, man, I’m gonna help you!”

Keith grumbled but allowed him to wrap an arm under his shoulders. And Lance, well, he decided to make the most of the situation.

“Want me to carry you like a princess  _now_?” he asked, a smile on his lips. “Nobody’s watching.”

“No,” Keith answered grumpily. “I can handle myself, Lance.” That may have been true, but he was leaning against Lance big-time, so he wasn’t entirely convinced.

They approached the outside of Keith’s door, so Lance let him be, and he stepped away once they were there.

“Right,” he said, staring at the ground. It was suddenly tense with just the two of them. Lance leaned against the wall and dared to look back at Keith. “How’s your head feel?”

Keith, leaning against the wall, shrugged. “Not _great_. It’s pounding and there’s like, this heavy pressure behind my eyes.” He massaged a few gloved fingers into his temples.

Lance flinched, imagining the pain, and then nodded. “Sorry.” He cleared his throat and softened his expression. “So, I uh—I wanted to thank you, for being so cool last night. I know it’s not easy for you to be emotional with people.”

Keith wouldn’t meet Lance’s eye, like a nervous tic. “I guess I wish it wasn’t that way for me,” he shrugged. “I do try, Lance.” He looked just a bit away from Lance’s eyes, and he wasn’t sure if Keith was pacing himself or if he was looking at the second Lance. “And the song was really nice.”

The boy looked past him and gnawed nervously on his lip, and Lance couldn’t help wrapping him up in his arms, pulling him close. He was being so kind, and Lance didn’t know how else to thank him.

But now he was so still, and Lance was scared that he was holding him too tight, but he held on tighter. And after a tick, Keith embraced him back.

“When Shiro told me you were hurt, he sounded…scared. I really thought you were gonna die,” Lance whispered, resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I would have missed you.”

Keith let his head lay against Lance’s chest, and for a moment he was scared that he would hear how fast his heart was beating.

“I’m fine,” he said quietly, and Lance could just feel his face getting blushy. He didn’t expect Keith to let him…hold him. But it was comfortable, and he would have stayed there if his heart wasn’t going a mile a minute.

So, he pulled back, but remained close to Keith. He was definitely testing himself, but he lifted a few fingers and brought them to Keith’s forehead, grazing them above the wounded skin. “You are now,” he responded in a light voice, smiling down at him.

The boy’s face turned slightly pink, and for a hopeful minute, Lance wondered if he felt the same way. But he was probably just embarrassed, or warm.

Lance was, too.

“I’m sorry,” he said, trailing his eyes down to meet Keith’s violet ones. He was so close, too close for Lance’s self-control. “I uh, didn’t mean to startle you,” he attempted to say casually, but his voice cracked.

Keith swallowed and looked down nervously. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s fine, um,” he cleared his throat, “but I’m going to bed, now. So, goodnight.”

He stepped back and stumbled closer to his door, and Lance was finally able to breathe, felt his face cool down. He watched to make sure that Keith could make it in without falling.

“Night.” Lance slipped into his room and rubbed his eyes.

Well, that was the most not-casual hug he’d ever had. It made him lay awake for a while that night, wondering if Keith had maybe considered kissing him too, or if he was just a little out of it that night.

 

For that week, Lance was Keith’s supervisor/health advisor/assistant-guy. He had absolutely no expertise in ‘health,’ but he stood by and made sure to let someone know if Keith was getting sick, and held on when Keith was unsteady.

Day into night, he was there for most of it. Now, he wasn’t  _hovering_ —he let the guy have  _some_ alone time—but he was there to help him eat and walk and even one time, he tried for getting dressed.

“Keith, are you absolutely sure that you don’t need help getting dressed?” Lance pushed, a playful grin on his face. “Because trust me, I’m very capable of finding your best attire. Maybe better than your typical…that.”

Keith crossed his arms, an irritated look on his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

And Lance, knowing full well that Keith most likely _didn’t_ understand what he meant, explained, “Believe me, I love your outfit, but the whole crop-jacket is confusing me. How’s it even supposed to keep you warm?”

“It’s my fashion choice, Lance, okay?” He rolled his eyes. “And no, I do not need your help getting dressed, thank you.”

Lance teased, “Are you sure? I promise I can get everything off easily.” Keith went red in the face and threw a pillow at him, so he ran out of the room giggling.

 

And Lance liked being this close, bonding with him. Keith was a bit sensitive about creating bonds with people—and was actually a bit upset when Lance joked about not remembering their night on the couch (“you  _just_ brought it up to me!”), or any other time. He wasn’t sure why, but tended to joke about it a lot.

But spending extra time with Keith was interesting, because Lance got to see past the super-bad-boy façade that he put on. Of course, he still held a bad boy attitude, but he softened up a little. Showed some emotion, occasionally about his family, and in general he wasn’t stoic.

 

Lance sat on Keith’s bed while he laid down, holding a mildly irritable conversation with him. He was just  _so_  tired, apparently, and Lance was doing nothing but antagonizing him.

“You need breakfast, Keith. Want me to feed you?”

“No.”                                   

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“So that’s a no.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yeah—no!” Keith snapped. He sat up and glared at Lance. “Could you leave me alone for one minute, Lance? I don’t need you babying me, and I just wanna sleep.”

Slightly taken aback, Lance stepped off and crossed to the door. “Yeah, yeah, wouldn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep, since you need that so much.”

Lance bit back his laugh at his own joke and went to the kitchen. He did feel a bit of remorse for pushing Keith’s buttons so much while he was hurt and lethargic, but it was a harmless joke.

“Hey, Lance, I’m super stressed right now, could you clean up the kitchen?” Hunk asked, running over to him. “I tried a new recipe and—well, I made a mess, but Shiro says he needs me now. Do you mind?”

Lance groaned. He was very particular about his distaste of cleaning. Of course, he had to do many chores back at home, and that’s exactly what made him so resentful—it sucked. But, Hunk was a true dude, and he knew that the guy would do the same for him.

“Yeah, man, I’ll do it.” Lance crossed over to the counter to look at the materials Hunk had pulled out. They resembled the supplies from earth, but of course had their own mini differences.

“Thanks man, you’re the best!” Hunk ran out of the kitchen, taking a half-burnt cookie thing with him.

“Oh, I know,” Lance called out after him.

If Lance was going to clean, he was going to need music. That was his motivation, and as long as he had a good beat, he could get anything done. So, he took a quick trip to his room and grabbed his music, the little bit that he had managed to save, and he got to work.

About an hour later, he was completely into it. Mostly everything was done, but he had saved the sweeping for last (as you would, logically)—and it was the perfect match. Lance could sweep the floor and grind up on the broom-like object—and he had to give it to himself, he was a pretty good dancer.

As the song ended with one last beat, he dropped to the floor into a squat-like position, holding his broom out in front of him. In the doorway stood Keith, his eyes trained on Lance, looking embarrassed from being discovered. Quickly, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway, a smirk on his face, trying to feign nonchalance.

Oh, Lance could work with this.

“Nice moves,” Keith said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you got anything done, if that’s what you were doing.”

Lance stood easily, the corner of his mouth turned up. “Well thank you, I am multi-talented of course, but I do believe I’m especially good at dancing.” He took a step closer to Keith.

“I’d have to agree.”

Lance’s breath caught in his throat. “Are you a good dancer, Keith?” he asked when he could, his eyebrow twitching up. Keith’s demeanor was a bit less cocky now. “Did you ever learn the art, back at home?”

Keith shook his head. “N-no.”

Lance paid careful attention to both Keith and the change of song. “Well you see, I need a partner for this one, it’s a slow song.” He once again moved closer to Keith. “I mean, I could use the broom, or I could teach you personally.”

Did he know exactly what he was doing? No. But did he like Keith’s reaction? Maybe too much.

“Fine,” Keith said, moving into the kitchen. “You can teach me. I’m not very coordinated when it comes to this stuff, so, we’ll see how good a teacher you are.”

“Oh, you doubt me?” Lance chuckled and pressed his hand into Keith’s back, then took his gloved hand delicately. “I wouldn’t, I used to teach girls all the time.” He moved Keith’s free hand to his shoulder.

Keith rolled his eyes. “This is how you flirted with the girls back on Earth?” he asked, moving with ease. The dirty little liar.

“Sure, here’s where’d I’d say, ‘you’re a natural,’” he twirled Keith, then pulled him abruptly against his chest. The boy took in a sharp breath, his eyes fixed on Lance’s. “She usually liked to hear that.” Lance swayed with him, his gaze moving down Keith’s face.

A quiet chuckle reached his throat, his eyes trained on Keith’s collarbone. “You know, Keith,” he commented, “you  _are_  a natural.”

Keith was searching his face. “Was that a joke, Lance? You’re throwing more cocky jokes my way?” he asked lightly.

Lance shook his head, finally bringing his eyes back up to Keith’s. “No,” he answered. Keith’s chest was rising and falling against his own, and he couldn’t take his eyes away. Those violet eyes, they were killer.

The song was coming to an end.

“Lean back,” Lance murmured.

“What?”

Lance leaned forward, pushing Keith into a dip, his thigh between his legs for support, and his lips close to his neck, panting gently. It was all too tempting. “Swept you off your feet, once again.”

After a pause, Keith found it in himself to roll his eyes, and Lance stood him back up.

He cleared his throat. “Now, wouldn’t you agree that I’m a great teacher?” he said, “I mean, you did great.”

“That’s cause I’m a natural,” Keith quipped, hopping onto a stool. Lance smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling all too warm.

“You’re right, however I think I motivated that,” Lance said, then clapped his hands together and cleared his throat. “Now, you need some breakfast, right? Well, Hunk burned the place down, but I’ll do my best.”

“Right, I can’t wait to see what that consists of. I bet you used to be skilled with two pieces of bread and some butter?”

“Ha-ha,” Lance said, squinting at him, grabbing one of the pans he had just cleaned.

And Keith giggled, one of the few times Lance had ever heard that, and he liked the way it made his heart flutter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i figured that with the title of this story, how could i not participate in some self-indulgent Dancing Klance? also how'd you feel about Lance's p.o.v.? anyways, if you enjoyed, leave kudos/a comment!


	4. Chapter 4

The pain in his head ceased to a dull throb as Keith let the hot water in the shower relax him. Safe from embarrassment and the heat of Lance, the boy let himself take these moments of independence to think for himself, and how he was feeling.

Lance might have been flirting with him. Perhaps just to humiliate him, but he had held Keith so close—more than once—and when they danced, it was like the roles had reversed from their bonding moment. Lance had cradled _him_. He would likely deny it to his grave, but if so, why? If none of that was for attention, or to embarrass Keith, then what the hell possessed him to do it?

Not to mention, he had the decision between staying with Team Voltron, or moving on to the Blade of Marmora. Lance’s math _had_ been solid, though he was wrong about one thing. Whether he realized it or not (and evidently, he hadn’t), he was a valuable member of the team. Indispensable. Keith, however…

Well, disposable wasn’t the most accurate term. It was just undeniable that with one extra paladin, Keith could do highly critical work in the resistance if he added his abilities to the Blade. Otherwise, somebody would be taking up space on the ship.

God, he wished he could release all this stress in the training room.

Keith groaned, accepting that he needed to leave the shower soon, and stood from his place on the ground. The water rushed over his skin, easing his muscles, washing away all his concerns until he got out of the shower.

When it was time to face the pain of existence once more (he wasn’t being _that_ dramatic), he pulled his pants back on, and threw his towel around his neck, ignoring his need for a shirt. He needed to cool off first.

Back on the way to the kitchen, he heard his name mentioned by none other than Hunk, with the word ‘murder’ uttered in the same statement.

His brows furrowed as he uttered, “What?” then leaned against the doorway, saw Hunk and Lance both look over guiltily and exchange a look, before Lance was speaking up.

“We’re planning an interrogation,” he declared, his voice a pitch above normal.

Keith blinked. “For me?” He saw Lance’s face go a light shade of pink, and for some reason, it made him suspect the worst. He needed to stop thinking that way. “Is this another Galra joke? Because I really thought we were over that—“

“Okay, Grumpy-Pants. Chill out. It’s more like a…game show! Right, Hunk?” Lance said, his voice growing more eager with every word. He didn’t wait for affirmation. “If you would like to be our first contestant, come sit on the hot seat.”

It seemed like the worst possible idea—or just a major waste of time—but did he have a better way to spend it? Keith scowled while he crossed the kitchen to show his distaste, but he went along with it. Lance looked him up and down before speaking, and he raised an eyebrow defensively.

Lance cleared his throat. “First contestant!” He said loudly, then stage-whispered to Keith, “State your name.”

“Keith Kogane,” he droned, resting his chin on his fist, his face devoid of any emotion.

The host of the show stared ahead, gnawing on his lips, then clapped his hands together. Keith was regretting his decision to stay more and more with each passing tick. “Right, so, Mr. Kogane. Have you ever murdered anybody, that you are aware of?”

“How exactly would I be unaware?” he asked, then said, after a look from Lance, “No. Well, yeah.” He blew an annoying piece of hair out of his face. “Some Galra soldiers, stuff like that.”

“Okay, sure,” Lance swallowed. He struggled for a minute before asking, “Now, Kogane. You speak so casually of these casualties.” Hunk laughed a bit at the play on words, and Lance snapped some finger-guns at him, obviously appreciative of the attention. “How often must you train to prepare for these types of things?”

Keith sighed. He missed the feeling of a workout. “Usually every day, but I haven’t in a few.”

“Try a week!” Hunk chimed in, snickering, earning a dirty look from the interviewee. “Sorry, dude, not your fault. Continue.”

Lance quirked an eyebrow once Keith looked back at him. The look on his face almost made Keith smile. Almost. “Do you do this to impress anybody? Show off those muscles?”

Keith considered him carefully for a moment, meeting his dark blue eyes with suspicion. “No, I don’t.”

Lance looked to Hunk, who gave him a knowing look, and Keith felt out of the loop. He didn’t catch on to subtlety very easily.

“Well, that’s it!” Lance finally settled on the phrase, the words frantically spewing from his mouth as though he had just grabbed them from the air above them. A quick glance showed Hunk squeezing the top of his nose in a disappointed fashion. “By the way, I don’t appreciate you lying to me.”

Keith’s eyebrows flew up to his hairline. “Excuse me?”

“Seems to me like you must have some experience with dancing.” An overly amused look dressed Lance’s face, one that made Keith’s demeanor grow timid. The air thickened as he came closer, but he was getting up to leave, and barely paused to squeeze Keith’s shoulder—leaving him with his mouth gaping open.

Keith tugged at the towel around his neck and pulled it up to cover his face, groaning, “My God.”

After a few moments of silence and Keith nearly smothering himself with the towel by choice, he felt a thick finger poke his bare shoulder, and he nearly fell off his seat with surprise.

“Hey uh, Keith?” Hunk questioned cautiously, though there was an edge of humor in his voice. “What’s the matter, pal?”

Something in Keith thought for a moment that a simple grumble in response was enough, but then, “He’s just so stupid,” rolled off his tongue.

Hunk, picking up a mug of metaphorical and literal tea, sat beside Keith. “Oh?”

The grumpy sword-slinger whipped the towel off his face—rather dramatically, Hunk might add—and rubbed his temples with his first two fingers. “First, he’s fighting me, then he’s nice, then he’s like,” he shied away from saying ‘seductive,’ sputtering for a moment before continuing, “then he’s bringing up the Galra that have died at my hands? I don’t understand any of it.”

Hunk sipped his tea. “Mhm.”

“I—“ Like a slap in the face, Keith realized he needed to quit opening up, especially to Lance’s best friend. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you. You’re used to him being weird.”

And there was a clink, as Hunk set down his mug and folded his hands delicately. “We’re all used to him being weird, Keith, and you being somehow weirder in some ways. Is that really what’s bugging you?”

With a glare, Keith slid from the stool, turn on his heel, and exited in the opposite direction of Lance. No time for whatever accusations Hunk thought he could make.

 

That night, when Keith had finally dressed himself and everyone insisted on a team meeting to discuss future plans, they gathered and lounged on the couches. Keith pressed for his right to stand—so that he didn’t have to be close to anybody—but Allura shot that down, claiming he shouldn’t strain himself. Keith just huffed in response.

“So, I’m sure we’re all relieved to see that Keith is recovering well,” Allura said calmly, relaxing into a chair.

Shiro looked over to him, a smile in his eyes. “We knew you would.”

Keith’s lip turned up at Shiro, but otherwise he felt compelled to roll his eyes in classic Keith fashion. “I’ve been fine since like, day one. The healing pod helped with the worst of it.”

“Yeah, well, you’re better at walking by yourself now than you were on ‘day one,’” Lance asserted, his hand lifted to his chest in a confident pose. “You’re welcome.”

“I still can’t believe that all happened,” Hunk added, chuckling to himself. “Keith was gonna become a five-course meal.”

“What, like he’s not usually?” Pidge broke in loudly, nearly choking on laughter at her own joke.

Keith cocked his head to the side. Was he usually prepared to be a delicacy? “Huh?”

Lance glanced at him with an almost shy smile on his face, but instead of explaining to a thoroughly bewildered Keith, just said, “Well if he’s a five-course, I must be like, ten, right?”

While Shiro just stared ahead at nothing, and seemed to be doing his absolute best to ignore his young comrades and enjoy the drink in his hands, Coran stressed, “It was a new experience for us all! But we must always be prepared. Vigilant. Let this be a lesson.”

Pidge, ignoring him, said, “I wonder if Lance would have been able to control his 10-course urge to flirt with the girls on this planet, since they were starving and all.” She giggled as Lance turned to frown at her.

“I have common decency,” he said defensively and crossed his arms. Keith smiled, familiar bemusement spreading across his features as Lance was teased. He was always so defensive, and it was kinda cu—

“Well, Keith never flirts with girls. You just survived all of that, man, you should try to pick up a girl at the next planet we go to,” Hunk said and put his hand up for a high five.

To the tune of a sigh from Allura, Keith pursed his lips and leaned back against the couch. “Eh, not interested.” He felt Lance pull back from next to him and scoff.

“What?”

Keith closed his eyes and shrugged. “I’m not really interested in girls anyways,” he yawned, and let it slip out of his mouth. The one thing he’d really tried to hide from his teammates, that he hoped wouldn’t cause them to reject him. The one thing in the world Lance made him completely sure of. And he was tired and this was the perfect opportunity to share with his friends. “I’m gay.”

A silence followed that, before Keith was startled to alertness by several pairs of arms around him. Oh, no.

“I’m so proud of you, Keith!” Pidge said, and she was in front of him. The other arms were from Shiro, Hunk, and Coran. Proud? Was that what the whole ‘Pride’ deal was about?

Shiro squeezed him gently. “Thanks for telling us, man.” He rubbed his back lightly and pulled back. Keith leaned into the fleeting touch.

Coran just looked proud, and he patted Keith’s shoulder as he pulled away.

“Wait, what?” Keith could hear Lance saying, surprise in his tone, and no upset. So, that was a plus. “How come I never catch on to these things? Geez, I’m clueless.”

Well, that was true.

“But uh, that’s cool man. Have you seen any cute dudes, then?” He asked more comfortably than Keith had expected. He turned to face Lance, and he had a smile on his face, which was reassuring.

Keith had to lie. “Uh, no, not really.” He looked around at everyone, and Allura seemed to just be getting it, as she finally smiled at him. “But, thanks for taking it so well, everyone. I thought it might be weird.”

“To be fair, we did once find out that you were part alien, so this isn’t the most shocking thing we’ve ever heard,” Hunk joked, sitting down in front of him. “But it’s a nice thing.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile as at least one anxiety melted away.

“Yeah, you’re still the same annoying, pretentious, overachiever Keith that we all know and love,” Lance said, putting his arm around the back of the couch. Keith punched his shoulder and he pulled back, giggling.

“Sorry I assumed, dude,” Hunk apologized, then raised his eyebrows. “Oh, shoot, I’ll go get some food for everyone. Dinner is probably done by now.” He ran off to the kitchen before Keith could respond to him.

So, he just smiled and let his head fall back against the couch. Though he had faith in his friends, as he had trusted that they really wouldn’t care, there was never a way for him to know if they would be uncomfortable or rude to him. Luckily, they were more than decent people. And they didn’t make it feel like a big deal.

But Keith’s head was starting to ache again, so when Hunk came back with dinner, he ate with half his usual energy. Allura noticed after a few minutes and spoke up.

“I think it’s important that Keith continue to rest, so as to not agitate his healing concussion,” she said, setting her fork down. “Are you finished eating, Keith?”

Keith nodded. “Yep.”

“Alright, Lance you know the drill,” she said. She sat back, fatigue seeming to come over her after the meal. “See to it that he gets to his room safely.”

Keith rolled his eyes. He was _fine,_ or he was now at least.

Lance signaled a thumbs-up since he was chewing. “Sure thing,” he said when he was done. “Come on, Keith.”

Keith said a quick, “thanks,” for dinner and stood, and began to walk. He wasn’t woozy anymore, just tired.

“How many times do we have to go over this? I’m trying to help you!” Lance said loudly, crossing over to him and slipping his arm around Keith’s waist.

And Keith tried not to let himself enjoy the simple touch too much. “I don’t need your help anymore, Lance,” he grumbled, not quite done sorting through their conversation earlier, or the dancing in the morning. What more did Lance have up his sleeve to confuddle him?

“Mhm,” Lance hummed, “Shall we remember what happened the last few times you said something like that? I think it’s a cursed phrase dude, so I’ll stick with you just in case.”

As they approached their rooms, Keith grew increasingly aware of Lance, and the fact that they would be alone, and he didn’t know how to deal with that without acting like a gay disaster.

Lance urged Keith to allow for him to take him into his room. “C’mon man, soon enough you won’t have Lancey-Lance taking you to the bedroom anymore, eat up the opportunity while you can.”

Keith sighed like a frustrated cat might. He was positive that Lance could read his brainwaves and wanted to torment him until he finally just admitted his last big secret.

Then Lance was assisting him in settling on his bed, sitting beside him, only a matter of inches away.

“Keith?”

And he took a deep breath to prevent his pulse from going into an overload. “Yeah?”

His eyes flitted across Keith’s face, and he brought a few fingers up to his forehead gingerly, brushing hairs away from what remained of Keith’s scarring. “I never knew you were into guys,” he continued quietly.

“Oh—y-yeah,” Keith said. Subconsciously, he tilted his head into Lance’s super soft touch. That moisturizer stuff wasn’t a joke, apparently. “It’s not—it’s not weird for you, right?” Keith was expecting Lance to continue joking like he had around the others, make sure Keith was safe, then stalk off, but he had gone in a completely different, new direction—not that Keith was complaining.

“No, it’s not,” Lance said in a soft tone. He smiled at Keith. “It’s totally cool, and I am too. Not that that’s the standard of weird or whatever.”

Keith looked up and took in a breath. Lance’s face was so close. “Are you bi then?” he asked. Lance nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve been told I’ll flirt with anything on two legs—which ignores the fact that I have totally flirted with mermaids,” he chuckled. “But anyways, don’t worry about it Keith. I’m sure we can hook you up with somebody!”

_You?_

Keith’s heart was pounding. Lance was being so nice, and he was so close right now, and if he didn’t back up soon Keith was gonna do something stupid like kiss him.

“Yeah, okay,” he scoffed and cleared his throat before pulling back. Lance cocked his head a little and removed his hand from Keith’s face, and Keith balled his fingers into fists in the sheets so as to not drift too far from reality. “What was that game show earlier about dude?”

Lance seemed to struggle through a few emotions, before landing finally on a small smile. “I dunno, I was talking to Hunk about stuff, and…” he trailed off, gazing back at Keith for a moment, “I was sure you heard the murder thing, you know. It was nothing personal, just didn’t want to upset you.”

At that, Keith squinted. He was incredibly dense, but he knew something wasn’t adding up. “Why were you talking about murder anyway, and me along with it?”

“I,” Lance stuttered, looking at Keith as though he could give him his own answer, “I guess he was just saying you were gonna murder me if you found out that I told him about us dancing. But I did, so like, don’t prove his theory right, okay?” He laughed lightly.

Keith smirked, then looked away from Lance, switching his vision to the wall in front of them. “He knows us well.” Lance, surprisingly, didn’t get defensive, and just chuckled. “Sorry for pressing you dude.”

So maybe that’s why Hunk was acting so odd. He was now curious as to why Lance felt the need to tell Hunk, but let it go for the moment.

Lance shrugged. “S’fine. I would wonder if someone who was my friend was associating me with murder, even if I were as intense as you.”

To that, Keith’s forehead creased with shock. “Intense, huh?”

A scoff sounded from beside him. “Yeah, man. Need I remind you of your training room sessions? Your emo tendencies? Your moodiness any time I speak to you?”

Keith brought his arms to his chest. “I’m not moody right now.”

With a certain amount of self-control, Lance looked to his crossed arms, then back at his face. “Right.” After pondering that contradiction for a few ticks, he said, “It seems different now, when we’re not with the others.”

And, there was Keith’s pulse picking up again. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean, we’re not bickering—“ he glanced at Keith’s raised eyebrows, “as like, rudely, as we used to.”

Keith smiled, fondness swelling in his chest, but he couldn’t let all that show. “I can’t have the others thinking I have a soft side.” Lance looked at him pointedly. “And I _don’t_ , but if we’re not antagonizing each other, they’ll antagonize us.”

A soft chuckle. With a small sigh, Keith wished he could remain in that moment for the rest of the night. “Well, we’re in this together, then.”

“We always have been,” Keith offered quietly. “Just not as willingly.”

Then Lance was laughing, leaning forward. His head rested on Keith’s shoulder. “I’m glad we don’t have to fantasize about killing each other anymore.”

And Keith was accepting that he didn’t have to challenge Lance, or fall victim to his provocation, to get his attention—he had it fully right then. “I never fantasized about _killing_ you, Lance.”

The boy then shifted to look at him but keep his chin on Keith’s shoulder, gazing up at him with those dark blues. “What did you fantasize about, then?”

Keith felt his chest tightening under Lance’s stare. All he thought about then was getting Lance to stay, pulling him closer…

He looked over Lance’s face, daring to flick his eyes down to his lips, but for no more than a second.

“I, uh…” he began. “I mean, I wondered how fighting you would play out, like in the training room.” He swallowed thickly; never would he have been able to anticipate the dancing, or how close Lance was pushing now. “We found that out.”

Truthfully, he had never hated Lance. From the start, he didn’t understand what made the boy so adamant about their ‘rivalry.’ But it brought them closer, and through that, he realized he wouldn’t mind taking Lance on as a friend.

His fellow paladin, while skeptical, never pulled back. “Hm,” he nearly hummed. Suddenly Keith felt warm fingers fumbling for his. “You ever realize how cold you are?”

…letting him do whatever else he wanted to do to Keith…

“Not really,” Keith mumbled, unfamiliar with these warm and tender advances, though Lance seemed comfortable taking charge. Since he was so unused to such soft touches, he was melting. His eyes started drooping, and Lance was still smiling at him…

“You’re freezing. I figured the red paladin, being the guardian of fire, would be fairly warm?”

There it was. A familiar type of joke, something Lance would say usually. Nothing else felt normal, and Keith grappled with his want for something familiar, and this brand-new type of touch. He felt oddly vulnerable, but with Lance steadily gripping his hand, he felt safe.

He sure was putty in his fingers.

“Guess not,” Keith struggled to get out, his throat closing on him. “I mean, you’re really warm, so you’re an anomaly too, huh.”

With a simper, Lance muttered, “Want me to warm you?”

Honestly, Keith wished he would, but Lance was probably pushing his buttons, seeking something to tease him about. But the look on his face, so open, inviting—it made Keith wonder if Lance genuinely wanted to stay.

Keith glanced down at their fingers, at Lance who was about two centimeters away, an awkward chuckle erupting from his throat. “Yeah, you’ll get like, hypothermia if you touch me buddy.”

Lance raised an eyebrow curiously.

“You grew up on a beach,” he breathed slowly. “And as you said, I’m freezing.”

“I’m already touching you, smartie.” Lance squeezed Keith’s fingers as a reminder. “And I’m pretty alright.”

Keith could relate to that.

And he was mildly surprised that Lance acknowledged being so close, since he usually denied any sort of gentle contact with him. Also, he did not believe that he had made that dorky lion joke.

Lance’s eyes closed, which Keith only found out by really casually looking over to him. He looked restful, relaxed from his usual bravado. There were few moments that Keith could recall where he appeared so genuine. Those where it seemed his walls were down.

With a short shake of his head, Keith said, “How come you only like me when you’re tired?”

“Hm?” The boy rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “Cause you’re oh-so cuddly, Keith.”

Keith scoffed.

Stretching out his free arm, Lance giggled. “Yeah, I know. Unlikely.” He started to sit up, not yet releasing Keith’s hand. “But from experience, you’ve acted nicer at night. You don’t shove me away.”

A beat. “So, this is how you usually interact with your friends, then?”

Lance paused for a moment, peeking an eye open at him. “Uh, somewhat, yeah. What, you like the sneak peek?”

While he did, he just glared at Lance and sighed.

“Well, you know where I am if you ever want to find that equilibrium,” he joked with a wink, moving to stand. The sound of Lance clearing his throat filled the otherwise silent room.

“Uh, goodnight then, Lance,” Keith said with a short nod.

A friendly smile shot across his face, and he stood, took a step back, and forced Keith to his feet. Then, he simply twirled a minorly unstable Keith, and lifted his fingers to his lips. There was a gentle kiss, then he was saying, “Sleep well, buddy.” And he lightly pushed him back to a sitting position, dropped Keith’s hand, then crossed to the door.

Lance quietly said ‘Goodnight,’ then slipped out of the room.

Logic pointed to Keith leaving for the Blade being the best option. However, he would miss Lance being soft and dorky with him more than he cared to acknowledge.

And he didn’t know how he’d break it to the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which we are all hunk tbh  
> so i may have accidentally dropped the ball on this story for the entire school year YEET  
> yeah it was a rough year and i lost all motivation to write it even though i never lost the interest  
> so HERE I AM BITCHES  
> uhh so i started writing this before s4 came out...it's been a trip. i think i'll just continue from here as planned even though we know the canon bc i mean. this is fanfiction not CANfiction, right? (that was the worst im sorry)  
> also who isnt depressed as hell abt the last three seasons anyways right????  
> so yeah uh here is this. fun fact the beginning of this chapter was written months and months ago, and also, this was going to be the last chapter, but i decided to extend it and develop it more bc i love some good development. and also i was gone for an entire like pregnancy, i think y'all deserve a little smth extra.  
> lmk how you're feeling abt this!! back 2 keith's pov. please leave kudos and i super love comments, also, if you'd like to contact me on my tumblr for whatever reason, my voltron sideblog is @lancesaltea  
> i think i should have one or two more chapters coming up? i swear it won't be a year, i already have a foundation, we're good.  
> thank u for sticking with me and dealing with my bullshit, i hope this made it worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

Those eyes haunted him.

The hurt in the universe carried in them, the light brought back to life by them, the intimacy they spread.

Everything about them made it harder to leave.

Days after Lance had lingered in his room, Keith could still feel the warmth of his presence. There was a comfortable weight, a tender pulling at his chest when he returned his thoughts back to that night, wishing he had the courage to ask Lance back.

Every day, Lance greeted him with a bright smile, a playfulness crossing his eyes. They pulled Keith in so easily.

If only Lance could see the effect he had.

For every morning that Keith grumbled through all of breakfast, Lance stomping in and commanding attention with his charisma somehow—despite the headache of it all—caused him to actually smile, at least a little.

Each time they visited a new planet—which he was finally allowed to do, on orders to ‘take it easy’—Keith found himself entranced more and more by Lance, what he was up to. Like a force of gravity, Lance nearly always pulled him closer. And with every experience, he felt something cheesy, like, his heart expanding.

The compassion he could see in Lance’s eyes as he looked upon a forsaken ground, or listened to another’s suffering at the hands of the ultimate evil—he could feel it. Many times in the past he had brushed the personality of each mission away. It seemed enough to him to stabilize a people and leave them be—through his own time, and through Lance’s eyes, he discerned the need sometimes for people to feel heard. To feel like somebody was listening.

Lance listened. He listened to each person who approached with a story, he opened them up with how captivated he seemed to be. His eyes wide and bright, soft and somber, taking in each tale with a kind perspective.

Even in times when Keith had pushed him out, he felt the same connection, because he could feel the care. And even though Keith shoved him away almost constantly, scared—of taking that extra step towards vulnerability with anyone other than his brother, of betrayal, of someone else giving up on him, realizing that maybe he wasn’t _worth it_ —Lance never gave up.

And with this realization, Keith wanted to push even closer. Ask with his own eyes for the boy to trust him to be understanding through any difficult times, to let him take on some of the burden. He wanted the boy with the kind eyes, with the open heart, to feel heard.

This boy was opening him up—internally, for then, baby steps—more than he could conceptualize.

 

Following a draining mission, Keith found himself plopped on the couch in their lounge room, rubbing his eyes exhaustedly. At least there were more people liberated, but hell, that takes a lot out of a person—especially when one does it for more than, like, three days in a row, and it’s coupled with a ridiculous coalition rouser.

Before he had even had the chance to reflect, a boisterous Lance came waltzing into the room, looking like he had just chugged about five cups of coffee. He was ranting to a somewhat distracted Hunk.

“That was so cool, man!” He shouted, loud enough to alert everybody to their conversation. In a voice similar to Allura’s, “Truly invigorating.” When no one else seemed to focus—other than Keith, who couldn’t will himself to do much other than gaze up at the boy—he just chuckled to himself. “Anyway, thanks. Catch ya later.”

“Sure thing,” Hunk mumbled, typing furiously at the tablet device in front of him, walking considerably slower than usual.

A huge grin as he approached. “Hey, Keith!” Lance said excitedly. He then booped Keith’s nose and took a spot snug and close to him. And while the latter’s heart began to race, and Lance continued with anecdotes and teasing, Keith quirked a smile at the boy.

A little boop to his nose and a smile had him practically swooning.

He was in deep.

 

Time ticked away. Keith sat with Shiro, frustration pooling across the table as the two knew they’d have to face the inevitable: there was no happy ending where Keith got to stay with Voltron, especially with Shiro’s admittance into the Black Lion.

Neither one of them wanted to say it.

To say it was to accept it, to fast forward the motions, and to say goodbye.

But one of them had to.

“Keith, you know you can’t keep doing this.”

The boy gnawed on the inside of cheek, a tic to ground him in the moment. “I’m aware.”

Disappointment collected in his chest, a dark abyss of shame threatening to envelop him. Nobody on the ship could understand _his_ personal conflict, try to get where _he_ was coming from—or at least they didn’t want to.

And it hurt. It hurt that his family didn’t care to check up on how he was balancing everything—though the answer was clear. He couldn’t do it much longer.

And he knew that he needed to keep the focus on the resistance, and only sulk by himself when he could spare the time. There was no use in troubling anybody else more than needed.

In a voice just above a whisper, he uttered, “I know that I need to leave, Shiro.”

His brother stared from across the table with an unclear emotion troubling his face. A slight scowl formed. “Not necessarily.”

Keith’s entire body shook with a scoff. “The Blade is the best place for my skills to be put to use. And maybe I can learn more about my _real_ family, huh?”

The words dug into the air between them, obviously paining Shiro, grief hidden beneath surfacing irritation in Keith.

“Don’t do this.”

“Do what, Shiro?” his voice started to raise.

“Try and make this easier by ending on a sour note. You’re allowed to admit that this is hard for you.” Shiro, unlike himself, followed Keith’s pattern of raising his voice.

Out of the corner of Keith’s eye, he saw movement in the hall, and though someone else could hear, his next words came sputtering out.

“Either way, I’m leaving! It doesn’t matter how I or anyone else feels.” Heat gathered throughout his whole being, he wasn’t sure whether from anger or sadness, but it caused his next words to come out strangled. “It’s what’s for the best—I know it, you know it, and it won’t matter anyway. I’ve pissed everyone off enough. I’m going.”

A quivering silence hushed the room, and as Keith flicked his eyes upwards, he noticed Lance in the doorway, a ghost of a smile falling from his face.

“You’re leaving?” It came out as a whimper.

Shiro sucked on his teeth, muttered something unintelligible, and stood from his seat, exiting the same way Lance was entering.

A silhouette of disbelief and something else Keith couldn’t place dressed the boy’s expression.

“Keith, I—“

Keith was feeling his insides go cold, and he was turning on his heel, ready to spend the rest of the night alone, but a familiar hand was grabbing his. Forcing him not to let go.

“Please, Keith,” Lance said quietly. “Talk to me.”

After a few breaths, Keith slid into a chair, Lance remaining right next to him, turning in his chair to look at him.

This was what he had wanted. He wanted to open up, connect—but he could feel an unrelenting wave of heat hitting his face. It was harder than it seemed.

“Lance, it was gonna happen sooner or later,” Keith said, attempting to keep his voice stony. Avoiding his eyes…

Those eyes, they were concerned, and his eyebrows turned up in a sad fashion. His fingers, seemingly unconsciously, toyed with Keith’s.

“Well…why didn’t you tell me?”

Though the boy felt some familiar sorrow, the translation from mind to mouth was unrelenting in defense. “Why do you care? Your stupid rival will finally be gone, and you’ll have what you always wanted.”

Tears welled in his opposite’s eyes, his grip tightening, as though this one moment in a sea of hundreds could make him hold on tight enough to stop him.

Teeth broke the skin of his lips before he nervously spoke, “You think that’s what I want?”

Keith couldn’t bear much more than a shrug, every movement furthering his feeling of waste.

Then the boy surprised him with, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Keith groaned, confusion marking his tone.

Lance swallowed, searching for something in Keith’s face. “Making you feel like that.” He inhaled slowly. “I—Keith, I don’t want you to leave.”

The raven-haired boy held his face in a frown, the threat of letting his guard down too close. “Yeah, okay. You’ll get over it soon.”

A shake of Lance’s head. “No, Keith. You’re not getting it. I…” A beat. “You’re my best friend.”

Keith, entirely thrown off his defense, searched Lance’s face for any sign of lie or dramatization.

He didn’t find it.

The exasperation he was fueled by fell apart piece by piece, replaced with an overwhelming feeling of melancholy. He didn’t want to leave his family.

He didn’t want to leave Lance.

What did he expect, when he allowed people in? Allowed himself to care?

Abandonment always struck his life one way or another.

With emotion trembling within, Keith said, “I thought that was Hunk.”

A grief-stricken smile slapped across the other boy’s face, and he started shaking his head. “Well yeah, but he’s got Pidge now…they’re always hanging out.” He grasped Keith’s other hand, forcing his full attention. “But you and I, we always find our way to each other, whether we like it or not.”

Something between a grunt and chuckle came from Keith.

Lance’s eyes conveyed not only sadness, but a sense of fear, though they were lifted by a small smile.

“Just promise you’ll find your way back to me, okay?”

Keith’s chest was heaving. “Of course.”

A twinkle met his eyes. “Pinky promise?”

There was only nodding, vigorous nodding, and the boy linked his finger with the other’s outstretched one.

_Tell him that you need him_ , a voice echoed in Keith’s head. _Tell him that you_ want _him_.

Keith was charmed, attached. In spite of Lance’s own woe, he had reached Keith in a way no one else had before. Somehow, he started to believe that the boy would miss him.

Hell, he would miss him too.

For right then, Lance was smiling, gazing at their intertwined fingers. His dark blues were brilliant, meeting Keith’s eyes with a combination of despondence and…joy.

He was beautiful.

_Tell him, tell him, tell him_ …

“When are you leaving?” came out as a whisper.

Keith held on even tighter. “Within the next few days,” was all he could manage, a bundle of tears threatening to reveal themselves.

A short nod.

Gathering himself, Lance lost eye contact and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” And he stood, releasing his vice grip on Keith’s hands.

With that release, his rock gone, he buried his face as far into his hands as possible, and let the hot tears flow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! cool so i went to business camp for a week and before that had a few days of work so i've been a lil busy, but here we are once again!  
> so this chapter is a lil shorter than usual. i was going to continue with some of the next parts but this just seemed like a natural break? maybe that's some bs but i felt like i should just move to the next chapter. yeah there's some angst for ya, hope that was fun. leave kudos/talk to me if ya want! thank you so much for reading <3


	6. Chapter 6

Days later, a nearly silent dinner was coming to an end, the only sounds being the noises of utensils scraping plates, someone lifting a cup to their lips, anxious tapping on the table.

Keith was hating the silence on this one occasion, wishing there was a distraction from his impending departure, but he also thought it to be like an honor to him. Finally, everyone shut up.

In reality, the quiet wrapped around his head and pressed into his mind, extracting his most prevalent thoughts in the moment. Those that pushed the idea that he was like a fleck of dust in how simple it was for the team to say goodbye. Most everybody was holding a grudge against him for not being on time _once_ —but if that was enough for them to drop all sense of sentiment towards him, well, he realized how much he had mattered at any point in Voltron’s career.

There were no toasts, no sentimental stories of the good ol’ days, nothing—not that Keith was keeping track. He figured that he must have isolated himself enough that of course none of them would have anything to say at a full table setting.

No self-pity, just acceptance.

And the more time ticked on, the more he wanted to leave the dinner table of silence as quickly as possible and actually enjoy the little bit of time he had left.

There was one way he could think of doing that, one person he could think to share it with.

Keith neatly stacked his plate and organized his other items to make clean-up easy. Then, he swiftly stood, took a deep breath, and said, “Hey, Lance? Think you could come help me finish packing up my room?”

Lance gaped up at him, his expression of surprise standing out from the look of confusion from everyone else. This was the night to take risks if there was one, though, right?

“Wh-“ Pidge stuttered.

“Sure, yeah.” The boy scrambled to stand, grab a piece of dessert, and push his chair in.

The two of them made their way down familiar hallways in a timely fashion for what seemed like the thousandth time.

“You seem surprised,” Keith spoke up first, breaking out of the usual streak of letting Lance do the talking.

A terse chuckle from next to him. Through a full mouth, Lance said, “Well uh, I feel pretty important.”

Not knowing the true weight of that, Keith nodded. “You are—“ he paused, “I guess.”

Lance shoved him playfully, wrinkling his nose. “Whatever, man. You asked me here.”

They reached Keith’s room, and he felt that well-known pounding in his chest, and he tried to convince himself that he could make something of it this time.

“Yep,” Keith finally responded. He sheepishly entered his own chambers, soon to be those of old. “I don’t care to pretend to hate you at the moment.”

Lance wiggled his eyebrows, looking at Keith with fake astonishment. “Wow, I’m impressed. Thought we’d have to keep our halfway decent relationship a secret.”

The false awe on Lance’s face left Keith rolling his eyes fondly, ignoring a fluttering in his stomach. Then, like an idiot, he mumbled, “Relationship?” and immediately wanted to kick himself after.

“Well uh, friendship.”

Clearing his throat, Keith awkwardly changed the subject, wishing he had just left it. “I wonder if anybody else will end up in here while I’m gone.”

For a few moments, Lance was unusually quiet, so much so that Keith turned to him, to see him glancing around at everything rapidly. Soberly.

“Nah, this’ll be here when you get back. Everybody has their space,” he muttered sadly. He avoided looking directly at Keith, trying to nurture the hurt that spread into his voice. “You uh—you never made yourself too comfy, huh.”

Keith examined Lance’s expression, soaking in some of the sadness, chewing on his upper lip absentmindedly. “Nope,” he said. “I guess I knew a day like this would come. I never trusted that I’d last here very long.”

“You can be cozy for the duration of your stay, though.” Lance shrugged, finally looking back at Keith. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “I expect to hopefully go back to Earth someday, but for now, my room is my room, you know?”

And Keith appreciated him talking to him normally. But at the same time, he accepted that their situations were different, and he suspected Lance did as well, but perhaps was shying away from that fact.

So, Keith nodded, and sat on his bed. “Yeah.” He wondered if Lance would ask about packing, or if he recognized that Keith needed him there for more. “You remember last time we were in here?”

Lance moved to sit next to him. “Yeah?”

“I uh, that was nice.”

And Keith didn’t know exactly what he was doing—he had about half the confidence that Lance did in these scenarios—but he wanted to take a chance while he had it. So, he tentatively took the boy’s hand, to which they both glanced down. Lance slowly looked back up, clearly puzzled, and Keith almost froze up.

Though there were a million questions swirling around his head about the night in question, he settled on a simple, “Thank you.” And he pressed a little further, scooted a bit closer, tracing small circles on the back of Lance’s hand.

And to Keith’s delight, Lance responded positively. “It was, uh, no problem?” He giggled softly, a bit surprised by Keith’s lead—in a good way, it seemed. “I mean, I wanted to.”

Keith cocked his head. “To what?”

“Uh…be close to you, I guess. Or, see how close you’d let me get.”

_As close as you want._

Lance, briefly, looked nervous, like he had made a mistake in what he had said or done. But with an unusual amount of initiative, Keith lifted his fingers to Lance’s face, tracing them along his jaw, hooking right under his chin. He had to let the boy know he had liked it, that he wanted more.

Lance’s eyes were locked on him. They were wide and blown out, his lips parted, steady but quick breaths falling out.

Keith was addicted to this look.

“You didn’t have to stop,” he murmured.

Lance slowly blinked a couple times. “I thought you wanted me to,” he said.

Keith shook his head with a small smile. “No, not at all.” Shakily, he admitted, “Lance, I liked it.” A breath of courage. “I need you. And I really, really want you.”

And with Lance gazing at him still, and his stomach in timid knots, Keith leaned forward, met by a similarly nervous but eager Lance, who balled his fingers into his shirt. Keith’s hand slipped to Lance’s soft locks, his fingers curling in them; he tilted his head further into the embrace, and a longing noise sounded from the boy.

His heartbeat was going a mile a minute, and Lance was pulling him as close as possible, hooking an arm around his neck—he couldn’t think anymore, all he could do was feel, and nothing ever felt so right.

They finally broke apart, Lance still clutching at his shirt with one hand; he had made his way onto his lap. Both panting, Keith broke into a grin, closely followed by Lance. He met the boy’s eyes, and he looked nothing short of elated. His cheeks red, eyes bright, a beaming smile—he really did look gorgeous.

“I can’t believe you, Kogane,” he mumbled. While he held on tightly, Keith pressed kisses into the column of his neck, to which he hummed with satisfaction. “You brought me to your bedroom for this, not packing. Very sneaky.”

Keith closed his eyes and laughed quietly through his nose, resting his head against Lance’s shoulder. “Yeah, I guess I’ve spent too much time learning from _you_ lately.” His hands found their way to Lance’s waist, where they rested.

“Mm. Not complaining.” He then felt Lance running a hand from his shoulder to his bicep, squeezing lightly. Not fully processing it, he just raised his head and lifted an eyebrow.

“You are _ripped_ , man,” the boy giggled.

Keith sputtered out another, surprised, laugh. When he opened his eyes, Lance was studying him, and he felt light as air under the look. “What?”

Lance, looking shy again, looked down, his cheeks going darker than they already were. “I love your smile.” Then he shook his head. “Man, I wish I told you sooner that I liked you.”

“Wow, you _are_ cheesy.” He flashed another smile to appease Lance. “And me too? Of course, though, I had to be the brave one.”

As Lance scoffed, he indignantly said, “Hey! I first opened up the idea of a friendship—and I was totally about to kiss you that one night.” He crossed his arms the best he could in the position he was in.

“Were you?” Keith raised his eyebrow teasingly. “Well, for the record, I would have complied pretty easily.”

Lance held him there for a moment, taking in that statement, and Keith could almost imagine a familiar pounding of his heart, the feeling of being weightless for a moment in some stupid sort of hormonal, romantic euphoria. He was used to feeling it, but recognizing it in the boy that made him understand some corny romantic clichés—that was a truly blissful experience.

And said boy’s eyes crinkled—the beautiful blues that could entrance Keith in half a second—and it was the most charming thing he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. (He was almost making himself sick with all of these lovesick thoughts.)

“Dork,” Lance eventually responded, a muddled bundle of emotions present. “Well, for the record, I’m flattered— _honored_ , that _the_ Keith Kogane would fall for me too. Surprised though? Can’t say tha—“

Keith scrunched up his face, which caused Lance to let out bubbling laughter.

And he was beside himself with adoration, but his heart was feeling heavier with each passing minute.

He didn’t want to leave.

Keith pressed his lips together. “Hey, by the way um—“ he felt an urge to look down shyly, but pushed himself to be more sincere with Lance. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner that I was leaving. I should have, you really did—you _do_ mean a lot to me.”

Lowering his head, Lance said, “No, no, that’s fine. I probably sounded really selfish. I know that was a hard decision, I uh—I didn’t mean to make it any more difficult.”

A mischievous smile dressed Keith’s face. “It’s been too late for that for a while now.” When Lance barely lifted the corner of his mouth, Keith gently guided his head upward, making eye contact. “You’re not selfish.” He rubbed the boy’s back comfortingly. “And—don’t tell Lance this, I’ll never live it down—but I would have been a bit bummed if he wasn’t gonna miss me.”

Lance looked at him for a few moments, a big dopey smile forming on his face, and Keith noticed tears gathering in his eyes.

“No, you won’t,” he chuckled, trying to keep his voice stable. Like he couldn’t help it, he leaned in for a sweet, brief kiss. Keith held him there for as long as he’d allow it, splaying his hands across his back, exploring the blissful new feeling. Then, “Do you think I could have a last dance?”

Keith nodded. “Of course.” He allowed Lance to slip off his lap and took his hand when he offered. He was pulled in close immediately.

After a moment, Keith heard a quiet melody being hummed, and he smiled, nuzzled his head into Lance’s neck comfortably. He breathed in the boy’s scent—sweets, chlorine, and sweat—and swayed. Taking in the moment and treasuring it.

For once, he could ignore any feelings of self-consciousness, or anxiety.

“Twirl?” Lance said gently in his ear, guiding the boy out and then pulling him back, holding him firmly, back to chest. He peppered kisses against Keith’s cheek, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Keith spun out again and took Lance’s hand back. He then saw wet streaks on his dance partner’s face.

“Don’t cry, loverboy.” He used his thumb to swipe the tears from Lance’s cheek, and the boy tilted his face into the touch, rolling his eyes playfully. “It’ll be alright.”

“I’m fine,” he sniffled. “Definitely not crying, just got one of your stupid mullet hairs stuck in my eye.”

Keith chuckled. “That’s your worst excuse yet.” Though he wouldn’t admit, it was hard for him not to cry as well. Good thing he was used to hiding his emotions.

“Just try not to die, or anything stupid like that, okay?” Lance mumbled, resting his chin on Keith’s head.

“I’ll try my best,” Keith answered. He buried his face further into Lance’s shoulder. “And ditto.”

“Yeah, alright.” Then Lance pushed him back, supporting him with his hand and legs, and he fell into a dip. A little smirk. “I finally swept you off your feet for real.”

Keith grinned and forced himself up, pulling Lance in for a kiss. Damn, did he love the feeling of the boy’s lips against his. “You sure did.”

Following a brief silence, Lance murmured, “I’m glad we decided to be friends.”

“Me too. And that uh—this happened.”

“Just a little late, Keith.”

“Not too late, at least,” Keith defended.

“No, but I could use some more.”

Keith chuckled almost silently. “Ditto.”

Lance led them through a gentle dance. Before speaking again, he swallowed thickly. “Don’t forget, you’re my best friend. You gotta come back.”

“I know. I will.”

“I’m really gonna miss you.”

Keith, wanting to assure Lance more than further depress the moment, said, “Just try your best to be okay. I’ll come back.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Alright.”

 

As the night ended, and Keith really had to separate himself from Lance—who clung to him for a few moments—and see the boy do his best to hide an onslaught of tears, and feel some prickling his own eyes; and as he said goodbyes to the rest of his friends, he was sure he finally recognized the expression Lance had had on his face when he first discovered that Keith would be leaving. The ache he felt as he withdrew from the castle.

Heartbreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so the last chapter+the last three seasons of voltron were all pretty depressing so here's something so sweet it'll rot your teeth!  
> this is the end of this adventure.  
> it's been a true pleasure writing this, and thank you guys for supporting me!!  
> also-at some point i could consider a post s6 (or 7) fic to put in like a series in this universe? not sure no promises!  
> i've had some one-shot ideas in my head though so perhaps stick around for those?  
> thank you again for reading this, i hope it's been enjoyable, thank you thank you thank you  
> (lol had to appreciate lance somewhere in this freaking hell-verse right)


End file.
